


Redemption Journey

by prindacerk



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alpha Bellamy Blake, Bellamy Blake & Clarke Griffin Friendship, Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin Angst, Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin Reunion, F/M, Slow Burn Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, The 100 (TV) Season 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 55,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28357680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prindacerk/pseuds/prindacerk
Summary: What if Jaha didn't forgive Bellamy for his crime? What if Bellamy left the camp after the day trip? How would things change without Bellamy around? The story goes AU after the Day Trip in Season 01. Will somewhat goes parallel to the show but events will unfold differently. Slowburn (very) Bellarke.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Octavia Blake/Lincoln
Comments: 29
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 01

**Author's Note:**

> The story starts from near the ending of the episode Day Trip (Season 1 Episode 8). From there, it goes AU but will have similarities to the series progression. It will be mainly Bellamy and Clarke in focus with rest of the characters in the mix. Fair warning. Not a fan of Finn and it would probably show in the story.

Bellamy and Clarke walked back to the camp in comfortable silence. Both of them are lost in their thoughts after their experience from hallucinogenic nuts. Bellamy felt that a big burden has been lifted from his guilt-ridden thoughts after the experience. He couldn’t explain why a simple matter of Clarke forgiving him would reduce the turmoil he has been suffering inside. But it did. He was still blaming himself for what he had done and the result of it but he didn’t feel overwhelmed by it. He was suddenly seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. The darkness he felt in him had started to dissipate in the light shone by Clarke’s forgiveness. He was feeling hopeful that things may turn out better than he thought. He was determined to make up with Octavia and do what he can to help others in the camp.

Clarke was lost in her own thoughts as well. Seeing her dad even in hallucination was difficult for her. His advice to forgive led her to take the step towards forgiving Bellamy. She didn’t like the arrogant rebel leader of the camp when they met. But as time went on, she came to recognize that Bellamy did anything to protect his sister no matter the consequences to anyone else. Sometimes his actions were reckless and led to disaster but she could see why he did what he did. And that made it easier to forgive him for unintentionally causing the deaths of the people who were floated in the Ark. After all, he didn’t know they were going to be floated when he decided to destroy the radio. And she could see him show remorse when he realized they were too late. At the heat of the moment, she blamed him. But after imagining her father’s advice, she realized that she could forgive him. And she did.

She only hoped that convincing him to come back with her to the camp so they can resolve his concern about the Ark executing him will turn out to be the right choice. She hoped that chancellor Jaha will show lenient to Bellamy for his actions and coming forward with the truth behind the plot to execute him. She mentally prepared for what she was going to say to convince Jaha to pardon Bellamy.

They soon reached the camp and were let inside by the guards at the gate. There seemed to be a gathering at the centre of the camp with everyone talking aloud in panicked voices. Listening to them, they realized that the grounder had managed to escape the camp somehow. Everyone was worried about retaliation that will arrive soon and they were panicking about not being able to defend themselves.

“Let the grounders come. We've been afraid of them for far too long, and why? Because of their knives and spears. I don't know about you. I'm tired of being afraid.” Bellamy’s loud voice broke through their chatter as they both walked into the middle catching everyone’s attention. He was speaking in his confident leader voice that inspire the delinquents in the camp. When he put the weapons in the middle to show it to everyone, they all felt the excitement run through them. All of a sudden, they felt confident and brave now that they had a way to defend themselves. And Bellamy’s speech brought forward the confidence they were lacking before.

“These are weapons, ok, not toys, and we have to be prepared to give them up to the guard when the dropships come, but until then, they're gonna help keep us safe.” Clarke spoke out. She is always the voice of reason in the camp and she needed to make sure that the rest of them don’t go crazy with the guns and be careful with them.

“Tomorrow we start training, and if the grounders come, we're gonna be ready to fight. Now go and get your rest. We have a busy day tomorrow.” Bellamy ordered everyone to disperse and they followed it as obedient soldiers.

Clarke saw Bellamy walk towards his sister sitting at the wall watching outside, with a blanket in his hands. She knew he wanted to make up with her and she needed to give them privacy. She went ahead to the tent that had the radio to start sending the signal to the Ark for the video call they had to make.

When the receivers answered, Clarke requested chancellor Jaha for an important chat. The receiver went to find the chancellor and Clarke walked out of the tent and called out to Bellamy.

Bellamy saw Clarke waiting at the communication tent and knew it was time to talk with the Ark. It was the moment he faced the consequences for his actions. After Clarke’s speech, he had a sliver of hope that it would not be a death sentence for him. He walked towards her to the tent, ready to face the person he tried to kill.

When they walked in, Jaha was waiting in the video chat for them. He sat in front of the camera and he was surprised when he saw Clarke sat down next to him.

“Mr. Blake, I've wanted to talk to you for some time now.” Jaha said as a way of initiating the conversation.

Before Bellamy replied back, Clarke jumped the gun. “Before you do, I'd like to say something. When you sent us down here, you sent us to die, but miraculously, most of us are still alive. In large part, that is because of him, because of Bellamy. He's one of us, and he deserves to be pardoned of his crimes just like the rest of us.” She told the chancellor. It was the speech she had prepared herself on their way back and she wanted it said before anyone said anything.

For a moment, chancellor Jaha remained quiet thinking it through. “Clarke, I appreciate your point of view, but it's not that simple.” He answered back.

“It is, if you want to know who on The Ark wants you dead.” Bellamy told him determined. He realized that forcing their hand would work better than begging for it. He hoped that the information will be more valuable than Jaha’s need for retribution.

“I wish that was the case. Whether you want to reveal the people behind the plot or not is your choice. But that cannot deter the justice to be served for your crimes.” Jaha informed him. He looked disappointed with his decision but he didn’t sway from it. Bellamy felt the last bit of hope slip away with that.

“How can you say that? Don’t you want to find out who is trying to kill you? How is it justice to kill someone you already sent to their death?” Clarke exclaimed in shock. She was sure that chancellor Jaha will go for the deal. She did not expect him to refuse it.

“Bellamy can still choose to reveal who was behind it. But I cannot put my own personal need for revenge or justice against the law of the Ark.” Jaha told her. He had been enforcing the law for a long time and he refused to bend it for his own self.

“But…” Clarke started to argue but Bellamy placed a hand on her to quiet her. She turned to look at him upset and he had a resolute expression in his face. “The person who gave me the gun and told me to kill you is Commander Shumway. He told me that if I were to do it, he would get me passageway to the dropship so I can be with my sister.” He told the chancellor.

“Thank you Mr.Blake. I wish I could do more for you but as chancellor, I am honour bound to uphold the laws. I offer you my sincere apologies. When the dropship arrives in two days and you will be taken into custody and await your judgement.” He ordered and the chat was disconnected.

“Why did you tell him who was behind the assassination attempt? He didn’t pardon you.” Clarke was still fuming at her failed attempt. Bellamy gave her a dejected smile. “I hoped that it will make up a little for my part in the deaths of those who got floated.” He explained to her. Clarke gave him a sympathetic look.

“Bellamy.” She whispered and put her hands on his arms as comfort. He looked at her and then averted his eyes quickly. He didn’t want her to see him vulnerable again. He needed her to believe he was strong enough to do what needs to be done.

“We can fight this. When the dropship comes, the camp will stand by you. We won’t let anything happen to you.” She was determined to protect him at any cost. Bellamy shook his head. “No Clarke.” He said in a tone that sounded as the conversation was over. She looked at him confused.

“I won’t let anyone in the camp get in trouble because of me. You need the camp united and ready to fight the grounders when they arrive. You need to make sure Octavia is safe and protected. I won’t risk them all to save myself. I will not put any of you in danger.” He explained when he realized he owed her that.

“What do you think they will do when the soldiers come to arrest you? Do you think Octavia will stand by, watching you get dragged out to be executed? What about all the kids that look up to you?” She asked. She didn’t think the camp will stay quiet when the guards come to arrest Bellamy.

“That’s why I am going to go away from the camp. I will be on the run, so the camp can’t be blamed for my escape. You all need their protection and be united against the grounders. Me being here will divide you all until grounders come and wipe you out.” He explained. He was back to his initial plan to run away. At the beginning of the day, it was more of a self-preservation act. Now it was a strategic act. _How things change in a day_ Bellamy wondered to himself.

“No. I can’t. I can’t do this without you. Who will train everyone with the guns? Who will be in charge of security? What will I say to Octavia? I need you Bellamy. I can’t do this without you.” Clarke pleaded with him. Bellamy looked at her and almost gave in. But he needed to be strong, not for his sake but for the sake of the camp.

“Miller is trained with guns. His dad is a guard in the Ark and Miller knows his way around the weapons. Trust him. He’s a good kid and others listen to him. You can ask Monty and Jasper to help around the camp. As for Octavia, she hates me now. I don’t think she will be looking for me anytime soon. When she does, the dropship will be here and she will understand.” He advised her. It broke his heart that he had to leave his sister in the camp and go away. He was never apart from her willingly before. This will be the first time he will be leaving voluntarily but he knew that she has grown up and she will be able to take care of herself.

“Where will you go?” Clarke asked. She realized no matter what she said, he was going to leave. And she realized in surprise, how much that stressed her. Even when they were on the opposite ends of the arguments, she knew she could count on him when there was trouble. But now she was going to be facing them alone.

“I don’t know.” He chuckled. He had no plan at all and he had to rely on his survival skills alone.

Clarke in a moment of panic, jumped toward him and hugged him tightly in a bear hug. Bellamy was surprised at that and didn’t know what to do. After a few seconds, his arms came around her to give a hug as tightly as she was giving him. He could hear her sniff her tears away and he took a breath-in from her neck. They were not friends before or even on the same side most of the time. But they both somehow shared a bond through their leadership qualities. Bellamy knew that the Clarke he thought he knew when they landed was far from the girl who was hugging him and Clarke had a different view of Bellamy from their first impressions.

She let him go reluctantly and he gave her a small smile as comfort as he left the tent. He started packing up his things into his shoulder bag. He took one of the knives and a short-handle axe to put it in his belt holder.

“Here. Take this.” Clarke was next to him with a gun in her hand. She was offering it to him willingly.

He shook his head refusing the offer. “You need all the guns you can have. The grounders will not be searching for me. But they know where you are and they will be coming after you. We still don’t know which ones work and which don’t. Ask Raven or Jasper to help you on that.” He told her. She nodded understandingly.

Bellamy looked back at the wall where Octavia was still perched with the blanket wrapped tightly around her. It will be a while before he would be able to see his sister again.

“You should really say goodbye to her.” Clarke suggested. Bellamy once again shook his head. “She will not be interested to hear anything I have to say right now. Even if she does, then she won’t let me leave. I came here to protect her and if me leaving will keep her safe, then that is what I will do.” He told her.

“You’re a good brother Bellamy. You have a big heart. One day, your sister will see it.” Clarke told him convinced. Bellamy gave her a small smile and walked towards the gates. The guards at the front were curious of his departure but he told them he was going out for hunting. They nodded and opened the door for him to walk out.

\---- 100 ----

Clarke walked into the tent where Finn was at. She saw Raven come out of the tent and asked her permission before she entered. She didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding. All she was doing was to check his wound. She needed something to distract her after what happened.

“Guns? Really?” Finn asked her from the sleeping bag as she checked his wound.

“The grounder escaping, we have to expect retaliation. We have to be prepared.” She told him dismissively. She didn’t have any problem bringing the guns as long as they use it responsibly.

“Yeah. Our ancestors wanted to be prepared, too. So, they built bombs.” Finn argued with her.

Clarke was getting riled up. She came to check on him as a way to distract herself and Finn starting an argument with her wasn’t helping.

“Rifles are not the same as nukes.” She replied back bitterly.

“In Bellamy's hands, they are. Clarke, come on. You can't predict what he's gonna do.” Finn told her. It was the wrong thing to say because as soon as Bellamy was mentioned, everything Clarke was trying to ignore came back to her.

“The grounder saved Octavia's life, and Bellamy brought him back here and tortured him.” Finn continued on.

“If Bellamy didn’t do that, you will be buried with the rest of the dead behind the wall.” She snapped at him. “Show some respect to the man who saved your life.”

Finn stared at her surprised. Clarke never spoke to him in that tone before. Something had changed.

“You and Bellamy are leading us down a dangerous road. I wish you would've talked to me about it first.”

“I wish you talked to me about a lot of things, but you didn't.” She said mockingly.

“Clarke…” Finn started to say something but Clarke interfered.

“I trust him. Which is a lot more than what I can say about you.” She told him to his face. Finn looked shocked at her declaration.

“You can't be serious.” He exclaimed.

“I am.” Clarke told him and got up when Raven walked into the camp. She left before she had to argue more with Finn.

When she was standing outside the tent alone, she realized what she had said. She trusted Bellamy. She had been arguing with him on most of what he did since they landed but somehow, she trusted him. She couldn’t exactly tell why that was. Could it be what she saw when he was protective of his sister? Could it be their shared experience today in the day trip? She didn’t know the answer to the question except that she trusted him. And now he wasn’t there with her. She felt more alone in a camp surrounded by eighty plus delinquents now than ever before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our hero has departed. Next chapter onwards, it will be from Bellamy’s point of view and then Clarke’s point of view of the day in third person narration.


	2. Chapter 02

_Bellamy – Night of the departure…_

It was late night when Bellamy left the camp. He knew he needed to take shelter as soon as possible. He knew about the caves near the camp from his hunting trips. He decided to go and take shelter in one of them. He usually took shifts standing guard at night and that helped him hone his vision watching through the dark. The moonlight shined brightly in the sky and streaks of light coming through the thick canopy of the forest. That helped him walk through the forest towards one of the caves.

He walked for a few hours before he reached the cave. It was darker inside the cave than the forest. It was very late for him to find firewood and he didn’t want to risk going into the cave. He decided to stay at the entry of the cave for the night and find what he needed in the morning.

The cold wind was blowing from the stream near the cave making the air chilled. Bellamy didn’t bring any of the blankets they found. He didn’t even bring a sleeping bag because he was worried that the kids in the camp will notice it. He wrapped himself with his arms to keep his chest warm and brought his knees up to protect himself. It was a difficult position to be in, but he knew it was necessary.

After a while, he took some of the food he had brought from the camp in his bag to eat. He had a water canteen as well, so he was hydrated for the night. He needed to stock up in the morning for long term if he was to make the cave his home. But it was something he can think about in the morning. He let himself doze off from exhaustion from the long day. He felt drained from the day’s events and how it ended up.

His thoughts were plagued with the nightmares caused by his guilt. It had been happening often since he saw people floated from the Ark. Subconsciously, he knew that his actions towards the grounder was him taking his self-hatred out on someone else. Someone who he deemed as guilty as he was because the grounders killed his people. He never tortured anyone before. Even as a guard trainee, he was not a fan of punishing someone with the shock batons. Some of the guards and trainees found it to be amusing but he stayed away from that kind of behaviours. But his own guilt and self-hatred led him to lash out at someone and unfortunately the grounder was at the receiving end of it. In his dreams, he could hear Octavia pleading at him and asking him to not do it. He could see Clarke in two minds about wanting to save Finn and not letting the torture continue. He could imagine how his mother would be reacting to his actions and he couldn’t look her in the eyes in his nightmare. One of the reasons he decided to leave was because, he felt that the evil he felt in him could spread to others, infecting everyone else.

He rolled around the ground unable to find a good position to sleep and lost in his thoughts. He sat back up and stared outside to see if there’s anything. The forest was very quiet at night except for the buzzing insects. He wondered what will happen to the people in the camp, but something inside him told him that they will be ok and they will be safe now that he was out of the camp.

Thinking of the camp brought his thoughts back to the person who surprised him. Clarke. She was an enigma to him. When they landed, he knew where they stood. She was the princess and he was the rebel acting out. Then she surprised him by showing courage and strength that he didn’t even have. She was strong willed and she had leadership skills that he came to acknowledge as time went on. When she decided they both make the decisions in the camp after Charlotte’s death, he agreed because she was capable of handling it just as he did. But the day trip today showed him a different side of her. He has seen her show her compassion side to others before. But for the first time, it was directed at him, and he wasn’t sure he deserved it. She made him have hope, that there could be a way out for him. Even if it was a small one, she managed to make him want it. But when she found out it wasn’t possible, she showed him another side of her. The vulnerable side that almost made him change his mind. But in the end, Bellamy’s head won over his heart and he made the right decision. He felt guilty for letting her burden the responsibilities alone against the grounders. But it was better in the long run. After the dropship arrives, she will get the guards to protect the camp and that should be enough for them.

He hoped one day, his sister will find it in her heart to forgive him. He came to Earth to protect her but all he seems to do is hurt her. She is a free spirit and he had known that all those years ago. He had been guarding her, keeping her locked up all her life and he knew it dulled her spirit. Once they landed, he had seen her soar but he was afraid that it may lead to her getting hurt. When she went missing, he was terrified of what might have happened to her. And that fear compounded with his guilt made him act out against what she was asking for. He should have listened to her more. He shouldn’t have been dismissing her as naïve. Him silencing her as often as he did was the same as locking her up. And there was no reason for him to do that here, on the ground. He should have done more for her. But at least now she will get that opportunity. He knew that Clarke will not let her be silenced and she will listen to her. Octavia will feel freer without him overbearing on her. It was all for the best.

He managed to convince himself that he was doing the right thing and dozed off again. This time the nightmares stayed away and his thoughts were hazy to keep him from sleeping.

\---- 100 ----

_Bellamy - Day 1…_

He woke up in the morning, having slept on his side with his back to the cave wall and sunlight shining in his face. He could hear the forest waking up with the buzzing noises. He decided to get busy with his chores, if he were to be ready before nightfall.

First thing he needed to do was to keep himself hydrated. He had finished his water canteen last night and he needed to fill up the water. He went to the stream near the cave and washed himself first and drank from it. Then, he filled up his water canteen and dried himself near the shore before trekking through the forest. He searched near the cave first, so he didn’t have to go far for firewood. He came across a tree that was firewood material and he used his axe to cut blocks of wood for fire. He brought them back to the cave and dumped it near the entrance. With sun shining brightly in the sky now, he could see further into the cave. It was empty and safe, with water dripping down the walls. It was not a big cave so he didn’t have to explore much. He found a dry place in the cave to store the firewood.

Next step in his preparation was to find food. Having led the hunting party many times in the past, Bellamy knew where to go and find food. He found the places where he can find edible fruits and nuts and stocked up on them. He didn’t have any traps or bow and arrow to hunt for animals. He realized that he had to resort to building it himself. He found some good vines and strong branches that he could use to make the bows and arrows. He took them back to the cave and started constructing it using the knife he had.

_Bellamy - Day 2…_

The next day, he felt he was prepared to hunt for animals with his makeshift bow and arrows. He tried it out in the cave and figured out the range of his arrows. It was not as good as the quality bow and arrows but it would make do for animals in near vicinity. Like yesterday, he went to the stream to do his morning routine. After that, he went in the direction where they go in search of animals. Usually, the hunting party surrounds the animal they are hunting and attack as a team. They had a routine that works without anybody being injured. Now that Bellamy was alone, he had to make do with his bow and arrow without any assistance. He had to be smart and attack from a distance than close. He was able to find a few rabbits with his arrows because he was able to target them easily. He made a failed attempt to kill a deer, because it was able to run before the arrow reached it. Satisfied with his semi success, he returned with the rabbits and more vines.

Bellamy decided to build a net that he can use in the stream for some fishes that he saw. The vines were sturdy and if he created a small net using them, it will be handy to use to catch the fishes. He spent the rest of the day knitting the net using the vines and the branches. He had learned earth skills in the Ark and while Clarke thought he didn’t know them, he did. He just chose not to show them off when Wells was around and Finn was acting as the tracker. He didn’t want to exert himself by doing more than what he needed to do. By the time sun set and night rolled in, he had a good working net and he wanted to put it to good use the next day. He had them skewed above the fire he had lit and cooked them.

He knew that tomorrow night, Ark will be sending their next dropship. That is when the guards will come and the camp will get busy. He thought about visiting the camp that night just to see one look at them all even from a distance. But he knew if he were to show up, he may change his mind and he didn’t want to risk that. He needed to be strong for their sake as well as his. He curled up next to the fire and went to sleep.

\---- 100 ----

_Bellamy - Day 3…_

The fateful day arrived and as usual, Bellamy went hunting. He tried fishing but he didn’t have much luck for the day. After a few attempts, he decided to give up and search for an animal to hunt, so he won’t starve. He went further into the forest as he didn’t see any animals near the cave. He was tracking for any signs of animal footprints. He came across signs of broken branches, indicating activity in the area. He cautiously walked around looking for the animals that lived in that area. At a point, he heard a soft growl. His instinct became alert and he looked around the bushes for the animal that made the noise. After checking, he noticed a pair of glowing eyes staring at him from a short distance. It was too close for him to take aim with his bow and arrow. He dropped them to the ground and pulled out the knife. If the animal attacked, he was confident he could take it down.

He saw the animal rush toward him and he readied himself to attack. When it pounced on him, he turned swiftly to the side and swung his knife hard. The animal that resembled wolf from the pictures from the animal books in the Ark squeaked as it fell to the ground bleeding. It looked a lot bigger in real life than what he saw in the pictures. The skin looked thick and rough and Bellamy thought it would make a nice coat for cold winds. He waited, watching its movements until he saw it take its last breath and stilled.

Before Bellamy could relax, he heard more growling all around him. He had walked right into the trap of a pack of animals hunting. Bellamy didn’t know how to fight them off and he was overwhelmed with fear. But he was not going to go down without a fight. He circled around looking for any signs of the other wolves. With the thick bushes all around, it proved to be difficult to see them coming. He could hear the growls becoming louder and louder. Then he saw one run toward him from the side. He turned to face it and saw another come from where he was looking before.

Bellamy kept swinging the knife wildly as they pounced at him. Two more has joined the attack. He got a few hits but it wasn’t deadly enough to keep them down. He felt the claws and teeth rip into his clothes when they pounced and missed. They kept circling around and pouncing at him again and again. They surrounded him and coming at him from all different directions. Bellamy knew he won’t be able to keep up with it for long. And as he guessed, one of the wolves managed to pounce on his chest knocking him off his foot. He couldn’t swing at it quick enough and it was staring at him snarling, keeping him grounded against his struggles. The other wolves started biting at his legs and arms and one of them managed to bite his arm to free the knife he was holding. The one in the chest slowly moved near his face opening its mouth towards his neck. Bellamy knew it was over by then and closed his eyes waiting for his death.

Suddenly, he heard a yelp and the weight on his chest shifted away. He opened his eyes and saw that the wolf in his chest now laid next to him dead with a spear sticking out of it. The other wolves had turned their attention away from him towards the new threat. Bellamy turned around and saw the grounder he had captured and tortured standing there facing the wolves. He wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating from the blood loss from the bites he had received or if it was real. He couldn’t understand why a grounder would try to save him for no apparent reason. The blood loss and pain took over and he felt himself drifting off to unconsciousness, and the last thing he saw was the grounder fighting the wolves.

\---- 100 ----

When Bellamy woke up, he realized he is being dragged by a makeshift stretcher. He turned his head slightly and saw that it was a grounder dragging him along. He couldn’t see very well who it was and he was wary about what was happening. But his body was in a lot of pain and he didn’t have any energy to ask what was happening or to do anything about it. He saw that his bleedings have been patched with the same kind of seaweed he saw in Jasper’s chest. It made him wonder if the grounder was going to tie him up and use him as bait, like they did with Jasper. He thought he would have been better off dead with the animals than live through that.

They stopped moving and he looked around to realize it was a familiar location. He was at his cave, which meant that the grounder knew where he lived. He felt the stretcher drop to the ground and the grounder came around to face him. Now that he was able to see who it was, he was worried. It was the same grounder he had tortured before. He had saved his life so he can get his revenge. A part of Bellamy wanted to fight, but another part of him driven by guilt made him feel he deserve it for what he did.

The grounder pulled him up roughly and brought him into the cave. Bellamy could see that his stuff was all there still as the grounder disposed him near the fire pit he had built. He started the fire back up and started to heat something in the fire. Bellamy tried to move but the blood loss must have been severe because he felt weak and even turning proved to be a painful act. He stayed as he was and watched the grounder concentrate on what he was doing.

Once whatever he was heating was done, grounder moved towards Bellamy. Bellamy tried to shift away as much as he could, but the grounder was strong and held him in place.

“Hold still.” The grounder growled at him. Bellamy looked up surprised. During the entire torture, the grounder didn’t speak a single word. He didn’t show any sign that he understood them. But it seems that he knows how to speak their language and understood them. Bellamy was scared at the willpower of the grounders if this one was an example. But he did as he was told. The grounder poured the hot liquid on the wounds and it burned. Bellamy cried out in pain but he couldn’t move because the grounder held him in place. He poured it in all the places that was bleeding before and the pain overwhelmed Bellamy and he passed out.

When he woke up again, he noticed that it was dark outside. Night had arrived and the only light in the cave was from the fire pit. He saw the grounder in the light from the fire, skinning the wolves. He had the meat from one of the wolves skewered above the fire pit. Bellamy saw the pile of the pelts he had already skinned. The grounder had managed to kill the wolves that attacked him.

Bellamy tried to move and noticed the pain was lesser now and the bleeding had stopped. Whatever the grounder did had healed his wounds, but left him confused. Why would the grounder try and help him after being tortured by him? It made no sense. The grounder noticed Bellamy trying to move and dropped what he was doing and came to him. He crouched down next to Bellamy and checked his wounds. He gave a nod of satisfaction and then went back to the fire pit. He pulled pieces from the carcass and brought it back to Bellamy.

“Eat.” He gave it to Bellamy who accepted it. He realized he was hungry, after not eating anything all day. The grounder had treated his wounds, so it would be pointless if he were to poison him now. He took a bite of the meat and his hunger took over and he ate all the meat quickly. He saw that the grounder was eating from the carcass too and they both ate in silence. When they were done, the grounder pulled the carcass out of the fire and placed it away for later use.

Bellamy felt shame and guilt for his actions in torturing this grounder that he now owes his life to. The grounder saved him when he had no reason to and Bellamy was very confused. He kept trying to find reasons, like being used as a bait or a prisoner to be exchanged with the camp. But all those reasons would lead to the grounder taking him to their people instead of bringing him back to the cave. His cave.

“Why?” Bellamy asked hoarsely. He hadn’t spoken for days now and his throat felt rough after the injuries.

The grounder stared at him silently for a minute. It seemed as if he was contemplating the answer before speaking.

“Octavia.” He said one word. Bellamy wasn’t expecting that. He was expecting anything else, but that was never in the realm of possible answers.

“My sister?” He asked confused. The grounder nodded in response. Looking at the confusion, he explained.

“She would be heartbroken if her brother died.” He said in a soft voice. The way he said it and his expression when thinking about it made Bellamy realize more than what he was trying to say. The grounder had feelings for his sister.

That revelation made him understand more about grounders. They were not like animals who only understood violence, as he initially assumed. This grounder did not seek revenge on him for what he did, because of his feelings for Octavia. He was strong willed and withstood torture, but only broke when Octavia was in danger.

“You like my sister.” Bellamy said out loud. The grounder looked at him alarmed. Noticing that Bellamy wasn’t jumping to attack him, he stayed where he was.

“She has a free spirit. A strong spirit. It is very rare.” He confessed.

“She does.” Bellamy agreed. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the grounder having a crush on his sister, but he realized that his actions so far have all been to protect her. Just like he has been doing all his life.

Bellamy pushed himself from the ground and stood up. It was a struggle as his body was still feeling the pain, but he realized that he was getting his strength back. The grounder now stood up in attention looking at Bellamy with watchful eyes. Bellamy slowly walked up to him.

“My name’s Bellamy.” He said and held his hand out.

The grounder stared into his eyes and then looked down at the hand. He looked back up again looking for something in Bellamy’s eyes. Bellamy didn’t waver or look away as he held a steady gaze. Whatever the grounder was looking for, he was satisfied with it and clasped Bellamy’s arm strongly.

“Lincoln of the Tree people.” He introduced himself.

“Lincoln. Strong name. We had a President by that name.” Bellamy told him. He loved history as a child and Lincoln was one of the names he knows from his reading.

Lincoln nodded, acknowledging Bellamy’s compliment. He tried to let go of Bellamy’s arm, but Bellamy had a hard grip on it. Lincoln looked at Bellamy wondering what was happening.

“I want to apologize for what I did to you in the camp. I saw you as a threat and acted out without giving you the chance. I saw my sister in chains and thought the worst.” Bellamy said, guilt in his eyes. He let go of the arm.

Lincoln looked at him with eyes staring deep into him. He took a moment before responding.

“What you did was to protect your sister and your people.” Bellamy nodded. “I understand that.” Lincoln said accepting the apology. Bellamy felt another weight of his guilt disappear, now that he was able to apologize for what he did.

“You should sleep. You need rest. This will help.” Lincoln gave Bellamy a bottle of potion. Bellamy took it and drank it before lying down near the fire pit. In a few minutes, he was knocked unconscious to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that Bellamy in the TV series didn’t show earth skills as portrayed in this chapter. They assigned that to Wells and Finn for some reason. But in the books, Bellamy was the one who had the hunting and tracking skills. So, I am making him as skilled in this story with my artistic license. And the reason he didn’t show that in the tv series was that he couldn’t be bothered since there were others doing it for him.
> 
> The TV show focused a lot on Clarke’s emotional turmoil but spent very little time on Bellamy’s. Only episode we saw him reflect was the Day Trip, which is why it is one of my favorites. I wanted to expand on that in my story when writing from Bellamy’s POV.


	3. Chapter 03

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Clarke’s POV at the camp.

_Clarke: Day 1…_

Life at the camp was not easy after Bellamy left. Clarke was left as the solo leader of the camp and the following morning after he left, whenever people asked her where Bellamy was, she told them he went hunting. But some of the close friends have noticed her mood and the way she answered it. They knew she was lying to them.

So, when Raven cornered her in the med bay after she had packed up the supplies, she knew she had to tell the truth.

“I know you’re hiding something about Bellamy. I can see it in your eyes. Spill it so we can handle it.” Raven asked her, straight to the point. Clarke knows that she doesn’t mix her words and speaks her mind.

Clarke gave a sigh and sat down in the empty bed. She felt exhausted speaking the lie with a straight face to everyone around the camp.

“He’s gone.” She told Raven who was surprised at the answer.

“Gone? Gone where?” Raven asked, trying to get some clarification.

“He left the camp last night. He won’t be coming back.” She stated the truth. It was not easy to accept the truth.

“Why would he do that? He gave the big speech about fighting the grounders. And he just left like that? What a coward.” Raven fumed.

“What? No.” Clarke exclaimed. She didn’t think people would see it that way. They didn’t know the whole story and they are going to jump to that conclusion even if the situation was coincidence.

Looking at Raven’s confused expression, Clarke felt obligated to explain. “Bellamy left cause chancellor Jaha was going to arrest him and execute him for the attempted murder.” Raven understood the situation now. Clarke continued to explain. “We tried to convince Jaha to pardon Bellamy last night. But Jaha refused to do it and was adamant on following the Ark laws. There’s a dropship coming in two days with soldiers and Bellamy was going to be arrested when they land.”

“He should’ve stayed here. We could’ve fought with him. Ark has no control over here. They can’t order us around.” Raven ranted. She has no love for the chancellor or the Ark laws. It was unfair for them to dictate what to do from there when the delinquents are the ones living down here.

“He didn’t want that. I told him the exact same thing and he refused to put us in conflict with the Ark soldiers. He said we all should unite together against the grounders.” Clarke told her in a sad voice. She wished she could have said or done something to convince him to stay.

“Huh. Long way from destroying the radio to save himself.” Raven commented. Clarke looked at her sharply.

“He knows what he did was wrong. He’s been feeling guilty about it ever since. The guilt was one of the reasons he chose to leave us now.” Clarke felt the need to defend him. She had forgiven him for the mistakes he made. She felt that others should do the same too. After all, most of them are on the ground because of a crime they committed.

Raven had a curious and quizzical look as Clarke spoke. She was looking at Clarke’s face deeply, and it made Clarke uncomfortable.

“What is it?” She asked in an annoyed voice.

“Just wondering when you switched to team Bellamy.” Raven commented. There was an underlying tone there, that meant more. But Clarke chose to ignore that.

“There’s no teams. I felt like we should give him a break for the mistakes he made cause none of us are free of that. We can’t keep judging him when our hands aren’t clean.” She justified her reasons.

“I haven’t done any mistakes.” Raven huffed. And Clarke knows that was true. She was not one of the delinquents and she came there to help them.

“Yes. But you can understand the extremes you will go to, for the person you love. Just like what Bellamy did.” Clarke pointed out. Raven knew Clarke was pointing to the torture she did on the grounder to find the cure for Finn.

“Yeah. I guess I do.” She murmured and walked away.

“Better tell Octavia before she finds out on her own. You don’t want to face her wrath if she hears about this from someone else.” Raven told Clarke on her way out.

Clarke knows that was true. She needed to have the talk with Octavia. And knowing her, she will explode and act impulsive and Clarke needs to be able to handle it. At that moment, she didn’t feel like doing it.

When she walked out of the dropship, she saw Octavia still sitting at the wall staring outside. Clarke had a feeling that Octavia was looking for the grounder with whom she had bonded. She had been dismissive of Bellamy after his actions towards the grounder. But Clarke cannot fault him for that, because the grounders have shown themselves to be merciless and violent.

Looking around, Clarke saw Miller walking around with the gun. She knew Bellamy told her to trust him, and she needed him to start preparing for the gun training and other security. With the threat of grounders looming over, they need to be ready soon.

She walked up to Miller and saw him pause when he saw her come to him.

“Hi. Can we talk?” She asked him politely. Miller looked surprised at her. The princess never spoke to him before. Bellamy is the one who usually talks to him about anything. It came as a surprise. He nodded at her and turned his attention towards her.

“Not here. Privately?” She tilted her head towards the dropship. Miller looked confused, but agreed and walked with her. Once they were inside away from the prying eyes, Clarke turned toward him.

“I need your help.” She started. Miller looked ready to protest because of his loyalty to Bellamy, but Clarke stopped him before he started. “Bellamy told me to trust you.” At that, he stopped and listened.

“Bellamy told me that people listen to you. I need your help training everyone on the guns and keeping order around. I need you to look after the security around the camp.” She asked him. Miller looked confused even more.

“Bellamy does that. When he comes back, he will make sure all the bases are covered and everyone is trained properly.” He said, confident at the capabilities of his leader.

“Bellamy is not coming back.” Clarke exclaimed. At his startled and distrusting look, she explained. “Chancellor Jaha is sending his next dropship in two days. They have orders to arrest Bellamy and execute him for his attempted murder.”

Miller realized what Clarke was telling was the truth. He knew what happened and he expected Bellamy to be in trouble when Ark arrived. But he didn’t realize it was so soon. But Bellamy is a fighter. He wouldn’t run and hide like a coward.

“Why didn’t he stay and fight?” Miller asked. He was concerned that Bellamy didn’t have faith in them to fight for him.

“Because he didn’t want us fighting against the Ark soldiers, when we are supposed to be readying against the grounders. He wanted us to unite together and face the grounders.” Clarke once again explained to another person.

Miller nodded in understanding. He could see why Bellamy would think that way. Unlike others, he and Bellamy have become friends and they look out for one another. He knows the inner turmoil Bellamy feels for his actions and decisions. It was one of the reasons he respects Bellamy as a leader. He wasn’t a tyrant but someone who could make difficult decisions when they need to. And the camp needed a leader like that. If it was led by pacifists like Finn, they will be dead when the grounders come.

“I’ll take care of it.” He told her. He will step up and hold the fort in Bellamy’s absence until he returns.

With a nod, he walked out of the dropship. Clarke felt exhausted and stayed in the dropship to take a breather.

\---- 100 ----

Her break ended sooner than she expected. When Miller started organizing people into groups for the gun training, Octavia noticed that her brother was not around. He may not be her favourite person right now, and they both said some harsh words to each other. She knows she didn’t mean it and if she was true to herself, she knows Bellamy didn’t mean what he said either. But that didn’t mean it hurt any less when she heard it. She knew what she said must have hurt Bellamy too and he lashed out. And right now, neither one was willing to apologize.

But Octavia knew her brother will not shed his responsibility in the camp. Bellamy may be on a power trip, but he will not let them get trained by anyone else but him. Seeing Miller in charge of the training told her that something was wrong. A tremor of dread slid through her at the thought that something happened to Bellamy. She was so consumed with Lincoln; she didn’t notice what was happening in the camp.

She looked around whom she could ask about Bellamy. The first people she saw was Jasper and Monty hanging around together. She walked up to them.

“Hey guys.” She said casually while looking around.

“Hey O. How’s it going?” Jasper said. He was cheerful and happy that Octavia didn’t feel like anything was wrong.

“Did you see my brother anywhere?” She asked him.

“Not since yesterday. Didn’t Clarke say that he went hunting or something?” Jasper asked Monty who nodded in agreement.

“Alone?” She asked confused. Bellamy was the one who ordered that the hunting parties should not be travelling alone and always as a team. He wouldn’t break it unless it was necessary.

“Guess so.” They answered. Octavia got more worried, but she didn’t show it to them. If that was what Clarke was telling people, then she needed to ask Clarke straight away.

She searched around the camp looking for her and unable to find her, decided to check the dropship. She walked in and found Clarke in the med bay sitting on the floor leaning against the wall.

“Clarke?” Octavia called out. Clarke opened her eyes and stared at the person she has been avoiding.

“Octavia. Hey.” She said and stood up, wobbling a bit. Octavia reached out and lend a hand to steady her.

“Thanks.” Clarke smiled sheepishly. She must have been more tired than she thought.

“Have you seen my brother?” Octavia asked her point blank. Clarke’s eyes went wide at the direct question. The question she was still struggling to answer.

“Uh… I.” Clarke was having difficulty forming words. Octavia decided she will fill it for her.

“Jasper said you told the camp, Bellamy left for hunting alone last night. But I know my brother and he wouldn’t have left alone unless he had to. So, what’s happening?” She questioned her.

Clarke struggled for a minute but then decided to be honest with Octavia. She deserved to know the truth and hopefully Clarke can handle her blowout.

“Bellamy left the camp Octavia.” She broke the news. Octavia stared at her not comprehending.

“What?” She asked.

“Bellamy left. Last night. We had a video chat with Jaha yesterday and he told us when the dropship arrives two days from now, Bellamy will be arrested and executed for the crime of attempted murder.” She told her with a sympathetic look, understanding how she must be feeling. It was not too long ago, Clarke found out about her own father’s sentence and had to deal with it. At least, Bellamy survived even if it was away from Octavia. She should get some consolation in that.

“No. No. No. No.” Octavia kept saying in a panicked voice as it rose with every denial.

“Octavia. Listen to me. It’s ok, It’s ok.” Clarke took hold of the girl and tried to calm her down. Octavia’s eyes were looking around wildly out of focus as she was digesting the news.

“I’ll kill him. I’ll bloody kill him.” She whispered vehemently when she stopped saying “No”. Clarke couldn’t tell if the him was directed at Bellamy or Jaha. It could be either one.

“How could he do this? How could he leave me alone?” Octavia asked Clarke in a small voice. At that moment, she looked like a little girl who had lost her brother and not the free-spirited woman who went toe to toe with him. Clarke pulled her into a hug and held her tight, while she cried.

“He did it to protect you.” Clarke whispered softly in Octavia’s ears as she hugged her. “He didn’t want the soldiers to come and fight with the camp. He didn’t want you caught in the crossfire. Bellamy does a lot of stupid things, but everything he does is for you. He loves you so much that he is blind to anything else other than to protect you.” Clarke told her. She had come to understand who Bellamy was and she didn’t want Octavia to have the wrong impression of her brother.

“I was so mean to him. I said a lot of stupid things. I didn’t mean any of it. He’s gone now and I can’t take it back.” Octavia cried out. Clarke kept her in the hug and ran her hand down her back to calm her down.

“He knows. He always knows. He loves you Octavia and he always will. No matter how many times you fight or argue, he will always be there for you.” Clarke said confidently.

“But he’s not here, anymore is he? He can’t protect me if he’s not here.” Octavia argued. Clarke couldn’t help but see the stubbornness that was the Blake trademark, from the younger sibling.

“He knew if he stayed, you’ll be in more danger. And he didn’t want the camp to be in danger. He really cares about everyone in the camp. He’s doing the selfless thing for a change.” Octavia chuckled at that and Clarke smiled knowing she was ok now. She patted her in the back, before letting go of her.

“Bellamy made me promise that I look after you. And I intend to do that. I need your help running this camp without him here.” Clarke said. She knew Octavia would jump at the opportunity to be in charge and she could use all the help she can get. Not to mention, having a Blake around is comforting for her. She couldn’t explain it in any rational sense.

Octavia nodded in agreement. “You should break the news to the camp. There’s no reason to delay it any further. Telling them now will let them be prepared when the dropship comes.” Clarke could see the value in the argument and agreed.

That night around the campfire, Clarke requested everyone’s attention for an announcement.

“Chancellor Jaha had informed us that he is sending a dropship with soldiers to help protect the camp, and my mother is coming to assist with medical emergencies.” She told them. There were whispers at the news. The delinquents are not a fan of the soldiers, but in their current predicament, having additional weapons and guards will be useful.

“Will they be punishing us for what we did in the Ark?” Someone yelled out from the crowd. There were more murmurs that told Clarke that the worry is there in many people’s minds.

“Chancellor had assured me that the slate was wiped clean when we landed.” There was a cheer around the camp at the news.

“What about Bellamy?” One of the girls in the camp asked. Clarke couldn’t tell which one. Bellamy had made an impression around the camp after all.

She looked around and saw Octavia and Raven on the side. She drew strength from them as she broke the news.

“Chancellor decided that Bellamy’s crime would not be pardoned. The soldiers have orders to arrest him when they arrive.” She told them. There were yelling and shouting as soon as she said it. She looked at her friends and saw Jasper in shock and Monty with a worried look. Finn seemed to be thinking something. Miller was silent, knowing the full story, watching the rest of them.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to protect Bellamy. The soldiers have to go through us if they want to get to him.” Someone in the crowd yelled out loud. And many of them started chanting “whatever it takes”.

“Silence.” Octavia bellowed and everyone started to quiet down. They knew not to get into the bad side of Octavia and this was her brother. They looked at her and Clarke expectantly looking for something confrontational.

“Bellamy was worried about this. He knew that all of you will try to protect him, and it will trigger a conflict between us and the soldiers. We will end up fighting them and the grounders at the same time and we can’t do that.” Clarke spoke logically.

“He wanted to protect all of you from that. He wanted us to unite with the soldiers and stand against the grounders. He didn’t want to be the reason for the conflict that brought trouble for the camp.” She carried on. Everyone was listening to her.

“That’s why last night, Bellamy decided to leave the camp. He left all the weapons for us and took some provisions and a knife. He said he will survive on his own so that the camp will remain safe. He believed in all of us to work together as a team and I expect that from all of you.” She said in a commanding voice.

There were murmurs around the camp. Those who were in Bellamy’s side were concerned for their leader and others who were not following him were glad that he was gone. Someone in the crowd called Bellamy a coward, running away from the grounders and that triggered a brawl. Octavia having heard it, wanted to jump in and attack the one who said it, but Raven held her back before she could. Miller fired his gun up in the air that caught everyone’s attention.

“Now listen up. We don’t have time for these squabbles. The grounders can attack any moment and we need to be prepared. The dropship will arrive in two days, but we need to be protected now. Bellamy made sure we have what we need and we are going to use it to its fullest extent. Now get some rest and we continue the training tomorrow morning, first light.” Miller ordered and everyone dispersed to their tents.

“So, this is the reason you were upset last night.” Finn said as he walked up to Clarke. She looked at him confused.

“What?” She asked, not understanding what he was trying to say.

“Bellamy left, leaving everything in your head. You need to face the grounders, while he hides away somewhere. That’s why you were pissed last night.” He believed he found the reason for her outburst last night when she visited him.

“Bellamy is not hiding from the grounders. He’s in there with the grounders, away from the safety of the camp for the sake of us and the rest of the camp. It was the most selfless thing he did.” Clarke scoffed at Finn and walked away. Finn looked at her, confused at her behaviour. Maybe the leadership burden was putting a strain on her, he rationalized.

\---- 100 ----

_Clarke: Day 2…_

Next day, the camp was buzzing with activities. Miller was busy training the people with using the gun properly. But they had limited ammo and he didn’t want to waste them on training. So, he was using the duds to get them to practice for now.

Clarke went to Jasper in the morning and asked him if he could help with making more bullets. She told him what Bellamy said about his chemistry background and Jasper’s goofy expression told her that he was happy to be recognized for his skills. He immediately went looking for Raven to help her with the bullets.

People started coming to her, looking for answers to the camp’s problems. From latrine cleaning to fixing the wall to daily chores around the camp was all brought to her. Clarke never realized that the camp required attention on so many aspects before. She used to only deal with major problems or medical problems. She came to realize that Bellamy had been taking care of all these issues without bringing it to her. And she is eternally grateful that he didn’t.

Clarke asked Finn if he could assist with the camp’s day to day activities. He agreed immediately and she left him in charge. Clarke checked on their food stock to ensure they have enough, but she realized they were running low on food. She needed to send out a hunting party but she wasn’t sure whom to send. She asked Miller for advice and he suggested a few Bellamy regularly used. Trusting Bellamy’s judgement, she sent them out for the hunt as a group, but warned them to return back if they sense any trouble.

By evening, she was tired. She walked around the camp aimlessly, when she heard loud yelling coming from one of the tents. She recognized it as Raven’s. She walked there and saw Jasper standing outside looking helpless.

“What’s wrong?” She asked Jasper, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

“A lot of the gunpowder has gone bad. We can’t make any more from what we have here. Raven is trying to make as many bullets as she can with whatever is left.” He updated Clarke. Before he said anymore, Clarke heard the voices again. It was Finn and Raven in the yelling match.

She walked into the tent knowing she was intruding. But right now, it was no time for personal problems.

“What’s going on?” She asked them both. Finn noticing it was her, turned towards her.

“Raven is making bullets for the guns.” He pointed out.

“I know. I asked her to make them.” Clarke told him point blank.

“You did?” Finn asked, surprised that she would do so.

“Technically, I volunteered.” Raven piped in. “But she was the one who sent Jasper, and he saved me a lot of trouble burning my hands testing the gunpowder.” Raven said frankly.

“I thought with Bellamy gone, there’ll be a sense of normalcy instead of violence. But we keep doing the same thing.” Finn said disappointed.

“Violence is not the same as attacking. If we’re attacked, then we need to be ready to defend ourselves. We need bullets, if we’re to face them. That’s what Bellamy was trying to tell us.” Clarke stated.

“We could try talking to them.” Finn suggested.

“How? They didn’t try to talk to us. They attacked and killed us, ever since we landed here. How are we supposed to talk to them, when we don’t even know if they can understand us?” Clarke asked desperately.

“If we keep going this way, we’ll never stop digging graves.” Finn said as if it’s a forgone conclusion.

“If they attack, there’ll be no one left to dig.” Raven pointed out.

“I hope you know what you are doing.” Finn told them both and walked out of the tent, angry.

Raven left out a big sigh after he left. Clarke put a hand on her shoulder and gave a squeeze to comfort her.

“Are you ok?” She asked the mechanic. They had a complicated relationship because of what Finn did. But Clarke had come to rely on Raven a lot since she arrived.

“I’ll be fine. I just wish I have more gunpowder to make more bullets.” Raven said as she threw another bullet onto the discarded pile.

Clarke left the tent, so Raven can do her thing without any distractions.

\---- 100 ----

There was one exciting news for the day. Clarke found Monty coming to her excited and holding to a plant in his hand.

“See this?” He showed it to her. Clarke looked at it closely. It seemed familiar but she couldn’t tell what it was.

“What is it?” She asked Monty, curious.

“This is Yarrow. I found it in the woods close by. There’re bushes of them growing. If we get enough and dry it and powder it, we can use it to treat wounds.” He told her.

Clarke remembered now where she had seen it before. It was from the medicine books from the earth skills class. It was historically used to treat open wounds, because it stops bleeding and prevents infection. Similar to the seaweed the grounders used.

“You should get on that. Take some people you know who could help you, and get as much as you can.” She instructed and he took off in a hurry to get to it as soon as possible.

At least, their medical supply concern is out of the way now. They have a way to treat the wounds that doesn’t rely on the seaweed from the river they brought back. They were running short of it and going back there was a risk she didn’t want to take unless necessary.

When Month came back, he brought bags of yarrow bushes as well as other plants. Clarke found out he also identified aloe vera leaves that would help with the healing. Clarke was very grateful that Monty was able to find the essential plants they needed around the camp. She thanked him profusely which led to Monty blushing, not used to being praised.

By the end of the day, Clarke had a full stocked med bay with necessary natural resources to treat any injuries and cuts. Some were made as paste and stored in containers. Some were powdered to be mixed with water. Overall, she was happy with what she had, given the circumstances.

\---- 100 ----

Clarke looked all around for Octavia. She couldn’t find her anywhere and she was very worried. She promised Bellamy that she will look after his sister and within a day, she had lost track of her. Clarke knew very well that Octavia knows how to sneak around the camp. She just hoped she didn’t sneak anywhere towards trouble.

She saw Octavia come back through a hole in the wall and let out a sigh of relief. Her panic was starting to settle as anger rose up at the girl’s carelessness. She walked towards her and Octavia seeing Clarke’s expression, stopped in her tracks.

“Where the hell have you been?” Clarke asked in a voice filled with anger.

“I was here. Around the camp.” Octavia said, acting normal. She knew Clarke didn’t believe what she said. She took a breath and looked at her in the eyes. “Ok. So, I snuck outside in the woods. Happy now?” She asked, upset at being caught.

“You know how dangerous it is out there. And you decide to take a stroll through the woods without telling anyone? I promised your brother I will keep you safe.” Clarke scolded her and held her by her arm dragging towards the dropship. Octavia struggled to escape but she couldn’t. “Hey!” She exclaimed and Clarke let her go.

“If you must know, I went looking for Bellamy.” She told Clarke. Clarke’s expression softened and her anger subsided. She knew how close the Blake siblings were and Bellamy being out in the forest must be a scary thought for Octavia.

“Did you find him?” She asked, part curios and party hope.

“No.” Octavia declared. “It got late, so I came back.” She confessed. Clarke gave her arm a squeeze to comfort her.

“Bellamy can take care of himself Octavia. He left to keep you safe here and he won’t like it if you run around looking for him and putting yourself in danger.” Clarke pointed out.

“I know.” Octavia said. Clarke nodded at her, hoping Octavia won’t do it again. She turned around and walked towards the dropship.

Octavia stared at Clarke’s retreating back. She felt slightly guilty for lying to Clarke. She has been friendly and supportive towards her. But she couldn’t trust her yet with her secret. She did leave the camp looking for Bellamy, but not just him. She went back to the cave where Lincoln had her. She hoped she will find him and she did. They talked, and she told him about what her brother did for her and that he was going to be killed by the soldiers coming in the next day. She asked Lincoln if he had seen him and he confessed that he hadn’t. But he promised keep an eye out for him for her. She kissed him as gratitude and because she wanted to. She returned back to the camp only to be caught by Clarke of all people. She told her partial truth, hoping it was convincing and it seemed like it was.


	4. Chapter 04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still Clarke’s POV

_Clarke: Day 3…_

Clarke started the day communicating with the Ark. They told her about the dropship that will be landing that night. She had the coordinates that were close to them. She walked out of the tent with hope. Miller had his morning training for those who had skills using the weapons. He was showing them the correct stance to hold the guns and shoot so they won’t get knocked down. Clarke could remember Bellamy doing the same with her in the bunker. Clarke checked in on Raven who continued to make bullets for the guns with Jasper’s assistance. Clarke went on a round around the camp to check if anyone needed anything.

She heard from a few of the people that Finn’s decisions are causing concerns. He was assigning latrine duties to people who have already done them, because others refused to do it. He had distributed some of the winter rations, because people demanded it. Basically, he was letting them push him around to avoid conflicts. It was leaving the bullies in the camp free, while the weaker ones burdened. Clarke promised them that she will look into it.

As she walked around, a brawl broke out near the smokehouse. She ran to it as soon as she heard the commotion with a crowd gathering around.

“What happened?” Clarke asked as soon as she was in the middle of the crowd. She saw one kid on the ground bleeding from his forehead and another holding his wrists.

“Ask him.” The kid with the wrist injury yelled looking at the one bleeding. He was lifted up from the ground by a few others.

“I told you, I didn’t do it.” The kid yelled from the ground, bleeding and unable to stand up.

“Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Clarke asked to the crowd.

“Andrew here, accused Tony of stealing food from the camp’s preservation shack. He said that Tony was going to run away with the stolen food, before grounders showed up.” A young kid in the crowd spoke up to Clarke.

“And I told him I didn’t do it. He had no proof. He assaulted me for no reason. I want him punished.” Tony yelled.

“Like hell you didn’t.” The kid called Andrew tried to attack Tony again, but he was held back by a few others.

“Stop it. Both of you.” Clarke ordered. She kneeled down and looked at Tony’s injuries. It was superficial, but he needed some bandaging to stop the bleeding.

“You two. Take him to the med bay. I’ll be there in a minute.” She ordered. She saw Andrew trying to speak out and she silenced him by holding her hand up. Once Tony was gone, she turned to Andrew.

“What evidence did you have to accuse him?” She asked him. She knew from her experience with Murphy that mob accusations never turn out well.

“I’ve seen him go into the shack and back many times. And when I went in now, I saw that we’re short of some of the meat we had preserved.” He explained.

“Why would you accuse him with circumstantial evidence like that?” She asked confused. The kid had no actual evidence and started punching. It’s not good.

“He’s been talking about running away like Bellamy, before the grounders came. I know he must be planning for it.” Andrew justified. He sounded fully convinced that it was the kid he accused that committed the theft.

Clarke sighed. People are talking about running away as Bellamy did. But unlike Bellamy, these kids are not survivors. They will die within days in the woods that was filled with grounders who knew the terrain.

“Listen to me. Bellamy didn’t have a choice. You all do. When the guards come tonight, we’ll be secure. We need to be prepared to defend ourselves until they arrive.” Clarke told the crowd around her. She hoped she instilled some courage with her words.

She looked back at Andrew. “Stop making accusations without evidence. If you want, stand in guard at the smokehouse, so no one else can steal anymore.” She told him.

She walked out of the crowd, huffing towards Miller. Miller noticing her coming towards him, stopped his training and stepped aside. Someone else took charge while he walked away towards Clarke.

“Did you hear what happened?” She asked him.

“I heard just now.” He answered her. He was disappointed with how things were falling apart at the camp.

“What can we do to stop this? Any suggestions?” Clarke asked him. Miller looked hesitant.

“These kids are prone to violence. When they’re afraid, they’re going to act out. And right now, they’re afraid.” He explained.

“We’ve been under attack from grounders since we landed. Why are they acting out now? What changed?” Clarke asked.

“Honestly? You did. Bellamy had them under control and the kids feared and respected him. He kept them in line and when he ordered them to do something, they did it. No questions asked. No second guessing.” Miller pointed out. Clarke knew that Bellamy was running things in the camp before. She never had to deal with any of these problems, because there was none before.

“They see you and they don’t fear you. You have their respect because you’re a doctor and you have been making decisions alongside Bellamy. But the fear they needed to follow your word is not there. And that’s why they’re acting out now.” Miller explained. Clarke felt upset by that explanation.

“I don’t want to lead them through fear. That’s not how I do things.” She said helplessly. It wasn’t in her nature.

“They know that. But you need to know that these are not just kids. They are teenagers who’re prone to rebel and they’re criminals as well. Some may be violent too. They need order to function and they need an authoritarian. They see you as vulnerable and they are taking advantage of it.”

“What can we do to maintain peace?” Clarke asked him genuinely.

“If I was in your place?” Miller asked and Clarke nodded. He thought for a minute before replying. “I would enforce strict rules and anyone who breaks it will be punished. For example, the kid who threw the first punch without any evidence will need to be confined for the day with no rations. That will stop anyone else from starting a fight.” Miller advised.

“He just assumed wrong. And we don’t even know if he was right or wrong with his accusation. We didn’t investigate it.” Clarke said. She didn’t want to enforce punishments.

“We don’t have the luxury to investigate. But what we don’t want is unrest or fights leaving the med bay with injuries, that will leave us vulnerable when the grounders attack.” Miller made a valid point that had Clarke thinking. When he saw that she was still contemplating her decision, he continued.

“When Bellamy ordered Atom to guard his sister and he failed, Bellamy hung him on the tree and left him for the night. One single act and then nobody else questioned him when he ordered something. It was quick and effective. Because of that, he maintained peace around the camp.”

Clarke could see the justification in Miller’s advice. She didn’t like it because it was not in her nature, but to maintain order around the campus that was brimming in unrest tension, she needed them to listen to her and obey her. Or else, it will end up a disaster.

“Ok. Let’s do it.” She nodded. Miller stood up straight as a guard would. Must have learned it from his father.

“You need to give the order and you must do it publicly. Then only people will follow you. It can’t be anyone else.” Miller informed her. Clarke nodded and went towards the crowd with Miller following her behind. When she reached the crowd, she saw Andrew standing there still fuming.

“Andrew.” She addressed him and he turned around to stare at her. She could see that Miller was right. Even though she told him what he could do and what he shouldn’t do, he had the look of defiance that told her he was not going to listen and attack Tony again.

“You are going to be confined for rest of today with no rations for instigating the fight without any real evidence.” Clarke told him. Andrew’s eyes went big and he took a step forward as if he was going to attack her. But Miller stepped in front of her, staring him down. Andrew backed away realizing he won’t get through Miller.

“This is not fair.” He complained. There was a few in the crowd who nodded with him.

“It’s not about what is fair. It’s about maintaining order and peace around the camp.” She told him. Then she turned around and yelled “Listen up.” Everyone turned their attention toward her. “I know some of you’re afraid. Some may think you can run away and survive in the woods. But that’s not possible. You haven’t been outside long enough to know the dangers. It’s not just the grounders out there. There are a lot of things out there that could end up killing you.” She heard a few murmurs going around. “This is where you are safe for now. We need to work together as a whole to survive. In order to do that, I am enforcing the same rules that Bellamy had. And anyone breaking the rules will be punished for their actions.” She heard people groaning, but there was no direct hostility. They were probably used to it because of Bellamy. “Starting with Andrew.” She looked at Andrew and Miller dragged him along towards the dropship. He pushed him up the ladder and locked him inside.

Clarke went with them, until she reached the med bay where Tony was lying down in the makeshift bed they have made out of metal in the dropship. She took a clean cloth drenched in water to wipe the blood from his head wound. Then she used some of the yarrow paste to stop the bleeding and wrapped it around with another clean cloth.

“Bleeding has already stopped. I just covered it to prevent it from getting infected.” She explained. “Keep it dry and you should be ok in two days.” She advised. Tony stood there staring at her hesitantly.

“Thank you.” He said to her softly. At her quizzical look, he explained. “For fixing me up and uhm...” he hesitated. “for believing in me.” He finished. She nodded in understanding. Tony left the dropship as Clarke put away the rest of the bandages and supplies.

As she turned around, she saw Finn walking towards her. She sighed, knowing what was coming.

“So, you’re a dictator now?” He asked sarcastically. Clarke shook her head.

“No. I am maintaining order. And sometimes, rules need to be enforced.” Clarke told him.

“They are kids. Speak to them. Tell them and they will listen.” Finn advised her. She chuckled helplessly.

“Did you think I didn’t try that? I had to do this, so they know I will not bend to their wills.” She retorted.

“We should give that kid a second chance. He will not do it again.” Finn argued with her. He was convinced that they can talk out the problems.

Clarke ruefully smiled. She knows that she was going to hurt him, but she had no choice to make him understand. “Let them know you are weak and they will take advantage of you.” At Finn’s unconvinced look, she continued. “Tell me something. What happened to the winter rations?” She asked.

Finn looked surprised. He didn’t realize she had heard about that. “Uhm… we didn’t have enough for everyone so I had to distribute some of the rations from our winter storage.” He explained.

“Really? Because we had plenty enough without dipping into that before. Did we get more people now?” She asked mockingly. Finn had no answer for her. “Let’s say that we were short of rations today. Did you organize a way to replenish the stock?” Finn shook his head. He didn’t think about that. “So, we will end up with less rations in winter when we can’t replenish it, because you decided to use it now?” She looked at him disappointed, and Finn realized the mistake he made.

“I know very well that we were not short of rations today. Some of them decided to stock up in their own tents and got some more. This didn’t happen before. It’s happening now. Because they are not afraid.” She pointed out.

“So now what? You want to rule them through fear? Scare them so they listen? What kind of leadership is that Clarke?” Finn challenged her.

“A leadership that will keep them alive. Something Bellamy did before without even asking me. Now I need to do that.” Clarke told him. Finn was getting frustrated. This was not the Clarke he knew. The Clarke he liked and fell in love with.

“You are taking the wrong road following Bellamy’s example.” He warned her.

“No. I’m taking the road that is necessary for the good of the camp. Bellamy knew that. Now I do.” Clarke said and walked away.

\---- 100 ----

Clarke knew that today was supposed to be a good day for them. The Ark had informed them about the dropship carrying soldiers and her mother. She was not sure how she felt about seeing her mother, but for the good of the camp, she was happy that Abby was coming. They will have a proper doctor and security when the dropship lands.

But instead, she had to face chaos in the camp, quash a brawl and deal with Finn’s issues. It took her most of the day getting things back to order that Finn left to slide. His pacifism was making it difficult for her to maintain order. She had asked Octavia to take charge of the activities from tomorrow because even though she is young and short, she was a spit fire and people didn’t question her. That confidence and intimidation she had would be put to good use, maintaining order around the camp.

She stared up in the sky, waiting for the sign of the dropship. She heard a “hey” next to her and looked at the person. Raven stood by hesitantly as if she was asking for permission. Clarke scooted over in the log bench she was sitting on, making space for Raven. Raven accepted the invite and sat next to her.

“Waiting for the dropship?” She asked Clarke, who nodded silently.

“Heard your mom is coming as well.” Again, Clarke nodded. “Abby’s a good person.” Raven said and Clarke snorted. Raven looked at her, surprised. She thought that Clarke was close with Abby and from what she saw, Abby was doing everything she could for her daughter.

“What?” Clarke shook her head trying not to shed any tears. Raven realizing, she had said something unintentionally, placed her hand on Clarke’s as a sign of apology. Clarke looked at the hands first and then up at Raven.

“She told Jaha about my father’s plan to tell everyone in the Ark, that it was dying. She was responsible for my father being floated.” She said bitterly.

“Oh. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” Raven said apologetically. She didn’t know the whole story behind Clarke’s parents. She only knew that her father was floated and Clarke was thrown in the skybox for some crime.

“I don’t know if I want to see her. But she is needed here. If we face the grounders, we need a proper doctor. Not just a trainee.” She stated. She was struggling between being the leader and being the daughter.

“We are here for you if you need anything.” Raven patted her hand in a soothing way. Clarke smiled at her in appreciation.

“And in my opinion, you did the right thing for the camp today. They need to be scared or else they will run wild. And we need to maintain order if we are to survive this.” She stated honestly. Raven always spoke what was on her mind without mixing the words.

“Finn doesn’t seem to think so. He thinks we should talk it out.” She laughed humourlessly.

“He sometimes doesn’t understand it. He’s a pacifist and always looks for the good in people. I love him but sometimes it gets frustrating.” Raven declares. Then she realized whom she was talking to and stared at Clarke. Clarke remained silent and just nodded.

They both sat in awkward silence, when they heard the sonic boom in the sky. The dropship was coming. Everyone in the camp got excited, staring at it.

“Wait. Something’s wrong.” Raven exclaimed. “They are coming in too fast. And in the wrong angle.” She said and Clarke could see what she was talking about. It was going further away than where they were supposed to land and it was accelerating.

“They should have used the parachute by now.” Raven whispered. Clarke stared in horror as the ship flew right into the ground and exploded. A white red and orange burst of fire lit up from where it crashed.

“Oh no.” Clarke exclaimed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took some artistic license to mix up the timeline. There’s no Unity Day or Peace Talks in this chapter. I brought the crash of the dropship earlier than the tv series timeline.


	5. Chapter 05

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy’s POV. Or to be accurate, Lincoln’s POV for the first half.

_Bellamy: Day 4…_

When Lincoln woke up in the morning, he noticed something strange. It was still early morning and sun was just rising. From the light that was streaking through the cave, he could see the other figure. And that figure was shaking around violently. Lincoln sprung to action in an instant, kneeling next to Bellamy and tried to hold him down. It took a few attempts, but he was able to stop the shaking. He touched the skin of the sky person and noticed that it was burning hot like fire wood.

He knew the signs. Bellamy was suffering from fever and maybe more. He looked in his carry-on pouch for any of the potions that could help. He wasn’t a healer and the potions he had were for emergency recovery. But none of them were what Bellamy needed. What Bellamy needed was a healer. He thought about taking him back to the camp, but decided against it. Octavia had told him what happened to her brother, when she asked him to look for him. And last night, he saw in the sky of the ship coming down. Bellamy was asleep by then from the sleeping potion he gave him. But Lincoln saw how that ship crashed into the field far from the forest. He knew the camp will be busy and he didn’t want to risk taking Bellamy there without knowing the situation.

He decided that the only course of action was to ask for help from his own people. Nyko should be able to help heal him. With that decided, he put the pelt he had been using over Bellamy to keep him warm and took off in a hurry towards his village. He sprinted through the woods as he was familiar with the route, having crossed it many times since the dropship landed. He was at his village in a very short time.

He went straight to the hut Nyko stays at. When he went into it, he found his friend busy making potions.

“I need your help brother.” Lincoln told him in Trigedasleng.

Nyko surprised by Lincoln’s arrival smiled at him. “Welcome back brother. Indra’s been expecting you for a while. How can I help?” He replied back in Trigedasleng.

“I need you to come with me. I have someone who’s sick and I don’t have the potions to save him.” Lincoln said in a hurry.

Nyko looked concerned at Lincoln. He knew Lincoln was a caring soul, but he never saw him act this worried about someone. It concerned him greatly.

“I’ll bring my medicine bag.” Nyko said and picked up the bag he had hanging on the wall of his hut. He followed Lincoln, who left in a hurry and they both rushed back through the forest.

Nyko followed Lincoln down a path that he never went before. Nyko was not a warrior like Lincoln and he was mainly healing people around the village. He travelled in the woods looking for herbs before, but that was with his people and near the village. He was pretty sure they have gone further away from the village and closer to where the Sky people were. The village had strict orders not to go near that area.

“Where are we going?” Nyko asked Lincoln, who didn’t stop or turn around.

“We’re almost there. Just a few more minutes.” Lincoln said as he sprinted through the woods. Nyko had no choice but to follow him.

They reached the cave in a few minutes. Lincoln slowed down when they reached the entrance. Nyko paused behind him as Lincoln looked inside for something. When Lincoln was satisfied, he walked into the cave with Nyko behind him. They both came to the burnt fire pit and saw the person in the ground under the pelt that was spread over. Lincoln looked concerned, while Nyko looked surprised.

“Who’s this?” Nyko asked Lincoln pointing at Bellamy. “Is he one of the sky people?” Nyko asked. He was able to figure out that it was the case, when he saw no signs of tattoo in the person showing the clan he belonged to.

Lincoln nodded silently. Nyko grabbed Lincoln by the arm, dragging him away from Bellamy.

“What are you doing? You know our orders. We should be staying away from them.” Nyko hissed at Lincoln.

“I gave my word to his sister that I’ll look after him.” Lincoln said softly. Nyko stared at his close friend trying to understand.

“Is this the girl you desire?” Nyko asked, realizing the truth. Lincoln’s silence answered his question.

Nyko sighed, knowing it was pointless arguing with his friend. Lincoln had never felt the way he felt for that mysterious girl. Nyko knew that. He knew the best thing he can do for his friend right now is to help the sky person.

He walked back to Bellamy and kneeled down at him. He could see that Bellamy was still unconscious and he was shivering. He placed his hands in Bellamy’s head to feel the heat and then placed his fingers on Bellamy’s wrist and neck, checking his pulse. It didn’t look well. Initial signs seemed to be the fever that his village people got, but the pulse showed that it was more than that. He looked over at the injuries in Bellamy’s body that was treated by Lincoln.

“Was he injured before or recently?” Nyko asked Lincoln, pointing at the wounds.

“Yesterday he was attacked by a pack of grey wolves. He was injured from their bites.” Lincoln informed Nyko.

“That’s unfortunate. He has poison running in his blood. He’ll die.” Nyko declared. Lincoln looked at him earnestly.

“There must be something you can do, brother.” He begged his friend. Lincoln knew that Octavia will not handle it well, if her brother died. They may fight each other like they were enemies, as he saw during his captivity. But he also knew that both siblings loved each other deeply and need one another. They can’t function without each other.

“There’s only one thing I can do.” Nyko said and looked into his medicine bag. Lincoln looked at what he was doing and when he pulled out a small bottle, Lincoln’s eyes went wide with recognition. Before Nyko could pour it into Bellamy’s mouth, Lincoln gripped his hands tightly. Nyko looked at Lincoln confused.

“We’re not killing him.” Lincoln stated as a fact. Nyko stared at him, trying to understand.

“We have done this to others before. When all else fails, a peaceful death is what we offer.” Nyko pointed out.

“We have not tried all we can do.” Lincoln replied back. Nyko looked confused at what Lincoln was trying to say. After a while, his eyes went wide in surprise. And fear.

“No. You can’t do this brother. You can’t bring him to the village.” Nyko argued hysterically. He knew what it meant. What will happen, if Lincoln did what he was thinking.

“We should have something there, that could help with the poison.” Lincoln said.

“Maybe. But think of the consequences. If Anya finds out what you did, you’ll be sentenced to death. Why put your life in certain death for a sky person? They captured you. They tortured you. They would have killed you if you didn’t escape. You owe them nothing but revenge.” Nyko argued.

“It was all a misunderstanding. He saw me with his sister in chains and thought I was torturing her. Any brother would look for revenge. He had come to realize his mistake. I should show him compassion, if we’re to expect it from them.” Nyko was surprised at what Lincoln said.

“He was the one who tortured you?” Lincoln realized he had unintentionally slipped up. Nyko looked angrily at Bellamy, who was still unconscious. Lincoln put his hand on Nyko’s arm bringing his attention back to him.

“I made peace with his actions and understand his reasoning behind them. I request you to do the same.” He said softly. Nyko knowing Lincoln’s big heart and caring attitude understood it even if he didn’t like it.

“I won’t let him die. Not if there’s a way to save him. I’ll take him to the village myself, but I would greatly appreciate it if you can help me brother.” Lincoln said and went towards the stretcher he used to bring Bellamy to the cave. He placed it next to Bellamy and tried to move him by his shoulders onto the stretcher. He saw the bottom part being lifted and looking up saw Nyko there holding the feet.

“I may not have your heart to forgive. But I’m with you all the way, brother.” Nyko said and helped Lincoln move Bellamy onto the stretcher. Lincoln gave a grateful look and clasped Nyko in his arm in their solidarity handshake.

They moved together lifting the stretcher from both ends towards their village.

\---- 100 ----

When they arrived at the village, everyone was busy with their daily activities. Most of the villagers were commoners and they had the daily routine of cooking, cleaning and other activities around the village. Some were farmers going to the fields. When they noticed Lincoln and Nyko carrying a stretcher, everyone paused what they were doing and stared at the stretcher. They wondered who was the victim and once they were able to see closely, they realized it was not one of their own. Lincoln ignored the roused shouts and loud voices he heard as they went towards the healing hut.

They walked in and placed the stretcher near the bed inside the hut. They carried him onto the bed and moved the stretcher away. Nyko nodded at Lincoln and walked away, looking for the elder healer in the village. Lincoln stayed behind keeping watch of Bellamy.

He didn’t have to wait long before Indra walked in. She quickly looked at Lincoln and then at the patient in the bed, who was clearly not one of the grounders.

“So, it’s true.” She stated. Lincoln nodded quietly.

“Do you know what you have done?” Indra asked him in a harsh voice.

“Saving a life.” Lincoln stated as a fact.

“You have brought death to our village. Do you know what the Sky people will do if they found him here? Do you know what Anya will do if she knew we had him here and didn’t kill him?” Indra demanded.

“Sky people don’t know where he is. They’re busy with their own problems right now.” Indra knew what Lincoln was referring to. She saw the ship in the sky last night and the crash and explosion that followed. “He needed our help and I couldn’t stand by and let him die. Not again.” Lincoln declared.

Indra knew Lincoln from when he was a boy. She knew his kind heart and compassion that was surprising, having been born into the warrior faction in their clan. She knew how Lincoln struggled, when he was forced to kill the sky person as a child by his father. Killing and death was not in his nature, even if he was a warrior. His soul was beautiful and it was one of the reasons Indra had a soft spot for him. But as the leader for the village, she had to look out for her people. And everything in her told her that having the sky person there was going to lead to their destruction.

“I’ll take him away as soon as the poison’s been drained from him. I don’t wish to condemn him to death, knowing there was something we could have done.” Lincoln stated.

“If Anya hears about this, she will put you to death. And not just you. Nyko as well. And anyone else who helped you.” Indra pointed out.

Lincoln looked at her helplessly.

“Tell me why.” Indra asked. She didn’t demand, but she needed to know why Lincoln would go beyond anything he had done before. Risking his own life and the lives of those close to him for a stranger.

“He is Octavia’s brother.” He explained. Indra took a sharp breath at that. _So that’s the reason he is adamant to save him_ , Indra thought to herself. When Lincoln escaped and came to the village, he was wounded and needed healing. He told what happened to him and Indra was furious. But Lincoln didn’t want to be the cause of the war, so he asked her to not react. Having known him for a long time, Indra could tell that Lincoln had deep feelings for the girl he met in the sky people. And she has not seen him that way in the past. And here he was, risking his life to save the person who tortured him.

“I’ll put two guards in here. If he does anything, he’ll be killed instantly.” She said as a fact. There was no argument to be had. Lincoln nodded in understanding.

“I don’t trust them. But I do trust you to know what you are doing.” Indra said, putting her hand on Lincoln’s shoulders, offering her support.

“Thank you.” Lincoln said gratefully. Nyko came with Kyala, the old lady in the village, who is their expert healer. Indra nodded at them and walked away to order the guards.

Lincoln stood back letting Nyko and Kyala work on Bellamy. They were talking in riddles about the infection and treatment that Lincoln couldn’t follow. He stood near Bellamy’s head, keeping an eye on them. After some time of them checking thoroughly, Nyko stood up.

“I need to go make the potions Kyala says will help drain the poisons.” Nyko said and walked outside. Lincoln following him with his gaze noticed the two guards standing just outside the hut. Indra was true to her word and keeping the village safe from the stranger. A stranger who is prone to violence.

It took a short time before Nyko came back with a bowl with herbs in it. It was soaked in some green liquid Lincoln hasn’t seen before. Kyala seemed to be happy with the outcome and she took the drenched herbs and squeezed them over the wounds Lincoln had patched the previous night. She then grounded the herbs and spread the paste over the wound and wrapped them with torn piece of cloth. She did that for all the bite wounds in Bellamy’s body.

Once she had finished, she stood up and looked at Lincoln.

“He will need to rest for the day. By night, if the fever doesn’t break, then there’s no coming back.” She told him. Lincoln nodded understandingly and Kyala gave him a squeeze on his arm before leaving. Nyko followed her outside leaving Lincoln alone in the hut.

He slid down the wall where he was standing, to be comfortable and wait. He wasn’t moving until Bellamy woke up.

\---- 100 ----

It was around sunset when Bellamy woke up. His body was wrecked with pain and he couldn’t move much. He had a killer headache and couldn’t see well. He was able to notice that he wasn’t in the cave anymore.

“Water” he called out hoarsely. He wasn’t sure if anybody heard him.

Suddenly he felt someone put a cup in front of mouth. He tilted his head to the side and felt himself being lifted up from the bed slightly and the cup was pushed into his mouth again. It was easier to drink now and he drank greedily. He must have been dehydrated badly from the way he was feeling thirsty.

After drinking about four cups, he stopped. “Thank you.” He said feeling his voice returning.

“You’re welcome.” Said the voice he was familiar. He tried to clear the cobwebs in his mind as the memories of last night came to him. The grounder Lincoln saved his life and healed him. He looked around now that his vision was returning. The magic of water helped him recover quickly.

He saw that he was in a hut instead of the cave he was in. He saw Lincoln standing next to him with a cup in his hand, in case he needed it. His other hand was holding Bellamy up by his back.

“Where am I?” Bellamy asked, looking around.

“My village.” Lincoln said. Noticing Bellamy’s confused look, he explained. “You were poisoned by the bites. I couldn’t heal you in the cave. I brought you to my village and our healers helped you.”

Bellamy was at a loss for words. He couldn’t understand why. Not one grounder but people in the village he belonged to was helping him. It went against everything he knew. _Or at least I thought I knew_. He corrected himself.

“Why are you helping me?” Bellamy asked confused.

“I asked the same question.” Indra said in English, as she came into the hut. She had heard from the guards that the sky person had woken up. She wanted to come and see herself.

Lincoln already having explained to Indra, looked at Bellamy. “I promised Octavia that no harm will come to you. I gave her my word.”

Bellamy looked surprised. He knew that the grounder had feelings for his sister from last night. But he didn’t know he had spoken to Octavia and they had a deal. A deal about him. Octavia had made the grounder she liked, promise to look after her brother. That made Bellamy realize that his sister no matter how angry she was at him, will always love him just like he would.

“Why would your people help me, when you have been trying to kill us all this time?” Bellamy asked Indra and Lincoln. Lincoln didn’t answer but Indra did, even if she sounded a bit upset about it.

“That wasn’t us. It was a faction of our clan. They reacted when they saw you approach the mountain. They thought that they could scare you initially but when that didn’t work, they started to kill your people.” Indra explained.

“Why?” Bellamy didn’t understand.

“Our people have been at war with the mountain men for generations. When they saw your ship land and your people go towards the mountain, they believed you to be on their side. They decided to attack.” Indra explained.

“Mountain men? So, there are people in the mountain who are alive?” Bellamy asked surprised. They were told there will be supplies, but not that there will be people living there.

“Yes. They’re cruel vicious men who have abducted our people many times before.” Indra spat. Bellamy could tell that there was hatred stemming from their previous encounters.

“What would they want with your people?” Bellamy asked curious. This was new information they didn’t have before. And it would prove valuable later on.

“We don’t know. The mountain men have attacked our people in the night and dragged them there, never to be heard again.” Lincoln now explained. Bellamy nodded in understanding.

“Anya has determined that by your actions, you have declared war on our people. And she’ll rally the other clans to attack your people. The result will be war.” Indra said, as if it was a forgone conclusion.

“There must be something we can do to stop this. You don’t want to go to war against our people. Especially when we have more arriving any day now.” Bellamy said. He was expecting the arrival last night, but he didn’t hear anything. But then again, he wasn’t up to hear anything.

He was lost in his thoughts that he didn’t see the look shared by Indra and Lincoln. They silently agreed not to reveal the fate of the ship to Bellamy in his current condition. Indra for the safety of her people, and Lincoln to save Bellamy from rushing into things before recovering.

“You may rest for the night and gain your strength. You’ll have to leave before Anya knows you are here.” Indra told him. From what she could tell, this sky person was not a threat to her people.

“What will happen if she finds out?” Bellamy asked her. Indra looked at him, so he could tell she was serious.

“Lincoln will be put to death. The healers will share his fate as well. Your fate will be worse than death.” She told him. Bellamy gulped, when he realized the seriousness of the situation.

“Thank you for helping me.” He told her genuinely. He offered his hands towards her. Indra like Lincoln hesitated before clasping it by the arm.

“My name’s Bellamy.” He introduced himself. He has been talking to her without knowing her name and her knowing his.

“Indra of Tree clan. Chief of this village and leader of Trikru.” She introduced herself.

“I appreciate what you did for me and I’ll leave as soon as I am able. I don’t wish any harm to come to anyone who helped me.” Bellamy said. Indra stared at him to see if he was telling the truth. Seeing it to be genuine, she nodded and left the hut.

Lincoln came to the front of Bellamy, who lied back down on the bed. “I’ll leave now and go talk to Octavia. I’ll let her know that you are safe.” He told Bellamy.

Bellamy looking at Lincoln, asked. “Can you do me a favour?” Lincoln nodded and Bellamy continued. “Can you not tell her what happened to me? She’ll worry and she will want to come. I don’t want her to leave her safety for me.” He requested. Lincoln thought to say something, but held his tongue and nodded.

“Thank you. Give her my love.” With that, exhaustion took over and Bellamy felt himself drifting to sleep.

Lincoln stared at Bellamy for a few minutes until he realized Bellamy had fallen asleep and left the village quickly. He wanted to tell Bellamy about the ship, but decided to find out more before telling anything. He hoped Octavia will see his flower and come out, so he can talk to her and come back before Bellamy woke up.


	6. Chapter 06

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clarke’s POV

_Clarke: Day 4…_

Clarke looked at the crash site in silence. It had created a crater when it crashed and exploded. The dropship was in pieces spread around the crater. Everyone with her, walked around looking at the crater for any signs for survivors.

“Clarke shouldn't be out here.” Finn said once again. When she decided that she wanted to lead a team to the crash site, he has been vocal about his objections. Clarke ignored him and she led the team because she needed to. Her mother was on the ship and she needed to know what happened.

Raven seemed to share her thoughts as well. “Her mom was on the ship. She's looking for answers. You want to help her, find me the black box, hard drives, anything that will explain why this ship crashed.” She told Finn who shook his head in disagreement.

Clarke couldn’t bother arguing about it, so she kept her focus on finding any survivors.

“Stay sharp. Grounders could show up anytime to retaliate for what happened to one of their own, just a matter of when.” She shouted to the team to get them moving quicker.

“If only Bellamy didn’t torture him, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Finn grumbled again. He couldn’t let go of what Bellamy did and how people around the camp either defended or justified his actions.

“If he didn’t, you won’t be alive as I’ve said before.” Raven replied back in irritation. She was getting tired of Finn always complaining about what Bellamy did. Raven wasn’t a fan of Bellamy by any means. But she didn’t see anything wrong with what he did given the circumstances. She did the same to save Finn’s life. So, hearing him complain about Bellamy was indirectly pointed at her too.

“Why they're coming doesn't matter anymore. It's our job to be ready when they do. We're on our own now.” Clarke said ending the argument.

“Raven.” Jasper called out from the other end of the crash. Raven took off towards him and others followed. They found him holding the black box in his hands while pointing at something on the ground.

“Is this what I think it is?” He asked her as he stood near a puddle of a pool of liquid.

Raven looked down closer at the liquid. “Hydrazine... Highly unstable in its non-solid form. If this stuff meets fire, we're all pink mist.” She explained to the normal people around her.

To demonstrate, she dripped a metal into the liquid to drench it and yelled “Fire in the hole!” before throwing it towards the fire lit area further away. It exploded shaking the ground around them.

“We need to clear the area.” Raven stated as a fact looking around to all the liquids puddled in different places.

“Okay. Let’s move out.” Clarke ordered, getting everyone to retreat away from the crash site. She could tell that there were no survivors. They found something from the crash site and she hoped it would explain why the dropship crashed.

\---- 100 ----

When they arrived at the camp, it was buzzing with nervous expectations. Everyone was eager to find out what they found at the crash site. Clarke let Jasper explain to them as she walked away. She was not in the mood to tell everyone that there were nobody coming to protect them from the grounders.

As she walked towards the dropship, Monty came from the radio tent.

“Clarke.” He called out to her. She turned around to look at him. “The chancellor is on line waiting for you. He wanted to find out what happened.” Clarke sighed. At least she needed to tell the Ark that their top doctor and their soldiers were dead.

She followed Monty to the tent. She could see chancellor Jaha on the screen but the signal was distorted and weak.

“Chancellor.” She called out bring his attention to her.

“Clarke. It’s good to see you. Hope you have some good news for us.” Chancellor asked.

“I’m afraid not Chancellor. We found no survivors at the crash site. The crash burnt all the supplies as well as all the bodies in the ship. We couldn’t identify the bodies. Not even my mother’s.” Her voice broke with emotions when thinking of her mother dying in the crash. Even if she never had the chance to talk to her on her part in her father’s death, Clarke still loved her mother. And her loss was emotionally draining after everything she had been through.

“Nobody told you?” Chancellor asked Clarke. He looked bewildered at the moment and Clarke got confused. “I’m sorry Clarke. It’s been hectic over here. There was a coup by Diana and her followers. They hijacked the dropship. Your mother was not on the ship.” Clarke’s throat hiccupped hearing that. She was out of words to say.

“Let me call your mother. Talk to her.” Chancellor told her and stepped away from the chat. Clarke stayed frozen staring at the screen. After a minute, her mother’s face appeared on screen.

“Mom?” Clarke cried out.

“Oh honey. I’m so glad to see you alive and well. I hoped to be there by now but the coup changed the plans.” Abby told her daughter with tears in her eyes.

“I’m glad you’re alive.” Clarke told her the truth. Abby looked emotional which is a rare expression for Clarke to see.

“You don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say that.” She said, her voice trembling. “I thought you will hate me forever.” Abby was crying by then.

“I know I still blame you for dad’s death. But I’ve loved you all my life and I know the extremes you go to look out for me. We’ll talk when you come here. Do you have any idea when that will be?” Clarke asked.

“For now, we need to find out what caused the crash before sending another dropship.” Chancellor Jaha told her coming into the screen.

“Did you manage to find the black box?” Clarke nodded and Jaha looked satisfied to see that. “Good. Ask Raven to analyze the data and find out what caused the crash. If we can identify and resolve the issue, we will come in soon.” Chancellor Jaha told her.

Clarke could see that her mom and the chancellor were arguing about something. She couldn’t hear them on her screen and she waited for them to finish. After a few minutes, it seemed Abby was the one who won the argument.

“The Ark has started to fail Clarke.” She told her daughter. Clarke closed her eyes absorbing the news. What her father predicted has come to pass.

“We’re trying to find out how we can land on Earth safely. We don’t have much time. We’ll end up there one way or another, very soon.” She told her daughter. Abby knew that Clarke deserved to know the truth. She didn’t want to keep any secrets from her daughter anymore.

Clarke nodded in understanding. She needed to prepare the camp with the news that the Ark will be arriving soon.

She signed off from the chat and stepped out of the tent. She saw Octavia come towards her.

“I heard about the crash site. I’m sorry to hear about your mom.” Octavia said. Since Bellamy had left, Clarke and Octavia have been talking more and more. Clarke could see a lot of traits of Bellamy in Octavia and that soothed her somehow. She couldn’t explain what that was about and she didn’t want to analyze it any further.

“My mom wasn’t on the ship.” Octavia looked at her surprised. “Apparently there was a coup and some people took the dropship instead of the intended passengers.” Octavia shook her head and chuckled.

“Aren’t they lucky!” She exclaimed bitterly. Clarke could understand Octavia’s dislike of the council or the security. They were the reason she had to live in hiding and separate from her brother.

“So, what is the Ark planning to do now?” She asked Clarke.

“The Ark has started to fail. They have no choice but to come to earth. They are trying right now to find a way.” Clarke informed her.

“If you ask me, I wouldn’t care if they come or not. But for your sake, I hope you mom do come.” Octavia said what she thought. Clarke could appreciate Octavia’s blunt opinions. It was better than pretending.

“Thanks. I think.” She acknowledged it and walked towards Raven to tell her the news.

\---- 100 ----

The camp was once again feeling unrest after finding out there were no security arriving that day. Clarke asked Miller to up the training to keep people busy. Any disturbance will be punished according to the crime. Luckily no one decided to challenge or test her after seeing what happened to Andrew. She knew Bellamy’s ways were effective to say the least. It wasn’t her preferred way but at this time, being the enforcer and keeping them all safe and in focus was better than being their friend.

She saw Octavia walking out the gate once again under the watchful eyes of the guards when the night fell. She was about to call out to her when she saw Raven running towards her. She looked very excited and Clarke knew it was more important than Octavia’s impulsive acts.

“There you are.” Raven said when she caught up to Clarke. Raven had to catch her breath from the running.

“What is it Raven?” Clarke asked curious. Raven had been working on the black box with Monty.

“I finally cracked it.” Raven said, excited.

“You cracked the black box?” Clarke asked surprised. She didn’t think it would be done so soon. But then again, Raven is a genius as she always reminded everyone.

“Yes. Come on.” She ran towards her tent and Clarke followed her close. They both entered her tent where Monty was sitting looking at the black box and listening.

“I’m trying to listen to this weird signal. But I’m having trouble isolating it.” Monty told Clarke, while listening to it on his headphone.

“Ignore him. He thinks he found some magical radio signal out of nowhere.” Raven laughed at him and went to her station.

“This is what I wanted to show you.” She showed Clarke something in the screen that Clarke couldn’t tell. Seeing her confused expression, Raven explained.

“The dropship had an open latch when it left the Ark. They didn’t seal it properly. It caused the ship to lose its balance and the trajectory changed. Seems they didn’t have any good pilot or engineer who could fix it because the data says that the parachute never released to slow down the ship’s landing.” Raven explained.

“In that case, it was a mechanical failure. Ark could still land if they want to.” Clarke said excited.

“Yeah. And I have been thinking about how. A mass that size crashing to Earth will destroy it completely. But if they separate the Ark stations as individual stations, the mass will be smaller and the crash could let some parts of the station remain intact.” She suggested her idea. Clarke was surprised to say the least. It was brilliant.

“I’ll pass it along to the chancellor when I tell him about the black box.” Clarke promised. Raven nodded at her and Clarke left.

She didn’t want to waste any more time, so she went straight to the radio tent to contact the Ark. After requesting to speak to chancellor, she waited till he appeared. When he did, she relayed the news about the black box findings. Jaha suspected that to be the case, himself being an engineer and seeing first hand, how the dropship left. But the idea Raven suggested to let Ark stations survive piqued his interest. He didn’t think of that, even though he had been staring at the schematics of the Ark stations all day long.

With that, Clarke disconnected the call again satisfied with what she accomplished for the day. When she walked out the tent, she saw Octavia sneaking back into the camp. She marched right towards her and caught her by her arm, surprising her.

“Clarke… What are you doing?” Octavia asked, struggling to free her arm.

“You and me are going to have a talk.” Clarke said in a no-argument tone and pulled Octavia towards her tent. When they were in, she let go of her arm and stared daggers at her.

“What?” Octavia asked, knowing what was coming and didn’t want to say anything herself.

“Where are you sneaking off to? Don’t tell me it’s to look for Bellamy, because if you were looking, you would have found him by now. So, spill.” Clarke demanded with her arms crossed across her chest staring at the younger Blake. She now knew why Bellamy was always looking stressed out trying to look after his little sister.

“Ok. I have been meeting with the grounder Bellamy caught and brought to the camp.” She confessed. She hoped that Clarke will more understanding than her brother. But from what she had found out today, she was confident that Bellamy would not object either.

Clarke’s eyes bugged out when she heard. “You have been going out to see the grounder?” Octavia nodded with a smile. “His name is Lincoln. We have been talking and finding out a lot about one another.” She was giddy when she spoke like a teenager.

Clarke was surprised. “Do you know the risk you have been taking?” Octavia frowned at that. “He could be trying to gather information about the camp through you.” Clarke warned her.

Octavia shook her head as if it was ridiculous. “You sound like Bell now. He wouldn’t do that. I know him. I…” she faltered. “I love him.” She confessed.

Clarke looked at the naïve innocent girl sympathetically. Octavia did not have any outside contact most of her life and now she is jumping into everything head first. Clarke knew very well how it felt to be in love for the very first time. Everyone that spoke against it was an enemy. She decided to try a different technique.

“What do you think Bellamy would say if he found out?” She hoped that guilt tripping the girl using her brother would work. But her reply backfired on her.

“I don’t think he will object seeing how he’s at Lincoln’s village right now.” Octavia said proudly. Clarke looked at her as if she had claimed that the sun rose from the west and set on the east.

“What?” Clarke screeched in a high-pitched voice that made Octavia wince. Clarke adjusted her throat and tried again. “What did you say?”

“Lincoln said that he and Bellamy came to an understanding. Lincoln took him to his village and Bellamy was resting there when Lincoln came to meet with me. He wanted to find out what happened with the ship.” Octavia explained.

“How did he know about the ship?” Clarke asked confused.

“I told him when I saw him last time.” She winced when she realized that she didn’t tell Clarke about that and lied to her. She realized Clarke had picked up on it, when she saw her staring at her.

“Sorry.” Octavia said in a soft tone. She knew she was in trouble.

Clarke sighed. She couldn’t do anything about the rebellious teen acting out. It was that age and especially after living in a locked room and then a locked cage, Octavia was expected to act out.

“You’re putting faith in the words of a grounder, that Bellamy is with him and they are in good terms.” Clarke pointed out.

“I trust him. He hasn’t betrayed my trust.” Octavia argued. She felt within her heart that she could trust Lincoln.

“I’m trusting you to know what you should do. But be careful. Don’t be too trusting. You don’t know whom you can trust, until you know them very well.” Clarke couldn’t help but think about the trust she had placed in Finn only for him to break it. He hid the truth about Raven from her and made her be the other person in that relationship. She never wanted to be that person and unknowingly, she became that person.

Octavia nodded sympathetically. Even though it was never stated, she knew about Clarke and Finn and the love triangle with Raven. But she was sure that her situation with Lincoln is nothing like that. Lincoln is an honourable man than Finn was.

“He warned me that the others would have seen the crash and believe we’re receiving backup from the ark. They may attack us before any backup arrives. You can take his warning or leave it. Up to you.” Octavia told her. Lincoln sounded convinced, that’s what will happen and she wanted to protect her camp.

Clarke thought about what she was told. On the one hand, it could be a ploy of some kind, but she couldn’t tell what would be the motivation behind it. On the other, it may be true and they may be in danger. But they have been preparing for the attack every day and there’s nothing more they can do. Telling others will just start a panic that she may not be able to control.

“Let’s keep it to ourselves for now. No reason to panic everyone about it. We’ll deal with it when it happens. I’ll ask Miller to increase patrol and more guards in the fence.” She told Octavia, who nodded in agreement. She was able to understand why Clarke would keep it quiet for now.

“Can we ask Bellamy to come back now that the guards didn’t come?” Octavia asked hopefully. She needed her brother with her. Lincoln said that Bellamy asked him to pass his love for her. Octavia had returned the favour. But she wanted to do it in person as well. She begged Lincoln to take her to his village, but he adamantly refused, saying it wasn’t safe for her. She begrudgingly accepted that decision.

“The Ark is coming soon with Jaha onboard. Bellamy will be in more danger than before, once Ark lands here.” Clarke pointed out. Octavia’s face fell when she realized that to be true as well.

“Hey. It’s ok. Once Ark arrives and we have a protected camp, we can travel to Lincoln’s village and see Bellamy there.” Clarke told her. She didn’t want to crush the hope Octavia had to see her brother again. And truth be told, Clarke hoped what she said to be true as well. It may be safer to see Bellamy in the grounders’ village, provided Lincoln told the truth. Ark wouldn’t try to arrest Bellamy in their place without facing consequences.

She hugged Octavia for her comfort as well as her own. Octavia left the tent, leaving Clarke in her thoughts on what to do next day.

All of a sudden, there was a lot of yelling and shouts at the entrance of the camp. Clarke came out and immediately ran toward it to find out what went wrong now. She saw Octavia and Jasper coming around the corner to the crowd. She reached there just in time to see a bloody and bruised person lying on the floor at the entrance of the camp. A crowd was around the person and she couldn’t see who it was clearly. Her initial thought was that it could be Bellamy after being attacked by the grounders. But the body shape was smaller than his and narrower. She squeezed in and sat down to look at the face. When she turned it toward her, she gasped at the person she saw.

Octavia had reached them by then. “Murphy?” she exclaimed. Everyone stood there, watching and wondering what was going to happen next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven’t noticed, I have started posting more chapters every week. I am now posting 2 chapters a week instead of a chapter a week. The reason is because this story has grown beyond my initial idea. Right now, I am planning on covering first two seasons with some elements in other seasons borrowed. As a result, it will be a two-part story, each one representing each season. I am estimating around 20 chapters for each part.


	7. Chapter 07

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy’s POV

_Bellamy: Day 5…_

Bellamy woke up the next day after sleeping all night long, feeling much better than before. The poison has left his body and the herbs did its job to heal him. He could feel his strength returning. He tried to get up but the other grounder that was with Lincoln, immediately held him down on the bed.

“Stay.” He ordered. Bellamy could hear the hostility in the voice and felt threatened.

“Am I a prisoner?” He demanded to know. The grounder shook his head aggressively.

“You should be. Lincoln gave his word and Indra felt you were truthful. You are our guest until you leave.” He said in a rough voice.

“Then what’s with the hostility?” Bellamy asked. Before he slept, he thought he created a rapport with the leader of the camp.

“Lincoln is my friend. You hurt him.” The grounder said. Bellamy looked away, ashamed of his actions. Even though Lincoln had forgiven him, it seemed like his friends didn’t.

“I apologized to Lincoln for that.” Bellamy said defensively.

“That is why I helped heal you.” The grounder replied. Bellamy looked at him surprised. He didn’t know the people who healed him.

“Thank you.” He said sincerely. The grounder looked at him, searching for the honesty in his expression. Seeing it there, he grunted and nodded in acknowledgement.

“Do you know where Lincoln is?” Bellamy asked the grounder. He wanted to find out what Lincoln heard from Octavia.

“He arrived early morning. He is taking rest. I’ll ask him to come see you, when he wakes up.” The grounder replied. Bellamy nodded in understanding. He didn’t want to push the hospitality he has been receiving, by making demands.

“Take rest. Eat food. Gain your strength.” The grounder told him and left the hut. A young girl came in with a bowl of stew for Bellamy. He got up from the bed and accepted it with thanks. The girl blushed when he smiled at her and left quickly. Bellamy smiled at himself for his current predicament as he started to eat the stew.

\---- 100 ----

After eating the stew, Bellamy lied down and got some rest. He knew he couldn’t roam around the village and there was nothing to do in the hut. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed that way until Lincoln arrived, looking rested.

“Did you see Octavia?” Bellamy immediately asked.

Lincoln nodded. He could see Bellamy is stronger than yesterday and he was ready to update him on what he missed out.

“She is well. She asked about you. I told her you were at my village. I didn’t tell her the circumstances behind it.”

Bellamy nodded in appreciation.

Lincoln took a deep breath and came forward to stand in front of Bellamy.

“I have some news.” Lincoln started. Bellamy was concerned at the tone Lincoln was speaking in.

“What is it? Is everyone ok?” Bellamy started asking questions.

“The ship that you were expecting to arrive, came last night.” Lincoln said. Bellamy got quiet hearing that. His fate was going to be sealed and he will not be able to see his sister in near future. But he didn’t expect what Lincoln told him next.

“But it didn’t land. Instead, it crashed a short distance from here.” Bellamy looked at him surprised.

“What?” He asked, not believing what he was hearing. Lincoln confirmed. “Octavia said there was some malfunction that caused the ship to crash.”

A million different thoughts ran through Bellamy’s mind. If the ship crashed, then the guards are dead. Which will leave the camp exposed. They need him to protect themselves. He could go back now that there’s no guards coming in. But then, another thought reminded him. Clarke’s mother was supposed to be on that ship. _Did she survive? How was Clarke dealing with it?_ His mind wandered into territory he seldom acknowledged.

Since they landed, Bellamy and Clarke had antagonized one another. But as time went on, Bellamy realized he had some underlying feelings towards Clarke. Feelings that he kept buried as he didn’t want to explore it. His main goal has been to protect his sister and his own survival. He didn’t want to look at the feelings Clarke was stirring even without trying.

But hearing her mother possibly being dead and him not being there for her, did something to him. He classified it as guilt because he should be sharing the burden as a co-leader of the camp. Any other reason was dangerous territory.

“Were there any survivors?” He asked Lincoln. He hoped that Abby Griffin somehow survived for Clarke’s sake. Seeing Lincoln shake his head negatively squashed that tiny hope.

“Octavia said there was a coup in your station in the sky. Someone else was onboard when the ship crashed. It was not the soldiers.” Once again, Bellamy was shocked at the news. He had a lot of questions but he knew Lincoln won’t be able to answer them since he didn’t have any knowledge of the Ark.

“What is going to happen? Did Octavia tell you? Is it safe for me to return?” Bellamy asked Lincoln a question he could probably answer, because he expected his sister to tell him that. Once he was back in the camp, he can find out rest of the information.

Lincoln apologetically shook his head. He could tell how much Bellamy wanted to be back with his people but according to Octavia, it was not safe still. He told Bellamy what Octavia told him.

“Octavia said that the station in the sky is dying. They’re going to come down any day now. She said it’s not safe for you to come because your leader and the army will land and they will arrest you.” Lincoln hoped, that it would give Bellamy some comfort.

Bellamy was distraught. “The Ark is dying?” He knew the Ark was dying, from when Clarke mentioned it to everyone. He was not a fan of the stations or the class systems and the laws they enforced there. But hearing that the Ark was dying and they are forced to land, shook him. Because there were a lot of people in the Ark who were innocents in the political games played by those in power.

Lincoln nodded. “I should warn you. Anya’s clan would have seen the fiery explosion in the sky last night. She will believe that your people have received backup and she will be on the offensive, trying to attack.” He informed Bellamy.

Bellamy stood in attention when he heard that. “Are you in trouble? Will she come to your village?” He was worried that the people who helped him would be in trouble, for giving him sanctuary and care by Anya’s clan.

“Possibly. She will try to recruit all the clans of Trikru to attack your camp. If she comes here and finds you, she will consider us enemies.” Lincoln stated the truth. He was not well versed in lying.

“Then, I must leave now.” Bellamy stood up getting ready to leave. Lincoln looked at him for a minute, before nodding in understanding.

Bellamy left the hut and moved towards the village gate. He ran into Indra on his way towards it.

“I see you have recovered from your sickness.” Indra said to him as a way of greeting.

“I have. Thanks to your people’s hospitality. I owe you my life.” Bellamy bowed his head in polite gesture for their kindness. They helped him after what he did, when they were not obligated to.

“I hope we will have peace some day with your people, Bellamy of the Sky people.” Indra said as if he was an official representative. Bellamy chuckled to himself seeing how he was a fugitive from his own people.

“May we meet again.” Bellamy said. “Ste yuj” (Be strong) Indra told him in return.

With that, Bellamy left the camp, walking as steady as he could towards his cave.

\---- 100 ----

The daylight was almost gone, by the time Bellamy reached his cave. It took him a lot longer to get back. Lincoln gave him instructions to follow the way back to the cave and it was pretty straight forward. Follow the path to the rock formation and take a right and so on. But with Bellamy still gaining the strength he had lost; he needed a few breaks in between. He quenched his thirst at the stream Lincoln directed him to, and followed its path to the familiar place where he filled his canteen. He was able to walk back to the cave from there without any trouble.

The cave remained undisturbed during his absence. Since Lincoln had already cooked and stored the meat from the wolves, Bellamy didn’t have to go hungry or go in search of food. He ate a generous amount, so he can get his strength back and drank from the canteen. He lied down on the pelt that Lincoln had left behind, taking some comfort in not having to sleep in the cold floor of the cave.

He needed to check on his camp even if it is from a distance tomorrow. Knowing the kids in the camp, he expected them to be panicking and unruly when they heard about the crash. Even he was shocked at hearing the news. With the possibility of a grounder attack looming over them anytime soon, they need to be prepared. Bellamy needs to be there when the grounders attacked. He left in the belief that the soldiers would be at the camp by now. Since they haven’t arrived and camp is in danger, he needs to be there with them.

With his mind made up, he tried to sleep to conserve his energy. It will be a busy day tomorrow.

\---- 100 ----

_Bellamy: Day 6…_

When morning came, Bellamy woke up with a purpose. He needed to get to his camp as soon as he can. But before he did, he had something else to do.

He had a nagging feeling that he may have missed something in the bunker he and Clarke raided. He wanted to go check the bunker as a possible safe house if the grounders attacked. It was filthy and smelly, but it was safe from outside attacks. If they went in and barricaded themselves, the grounders wouldn’t be able to attack. He didn’t relish the idea of abandoning the camp that he was mainly in charge of building. It was the first place he felt as home. But for the sake of everyone, he hoped the bunker would be sufficient until the grounders withdrew. They can return back and rebuild it again.

He went to the stream to freshen up and once he was done, he hiked towards the bunker. He was familiar with the terrain and knew where it was. It smelled the same and he didn’t have any flashlights this time. But the sunlight was better than last time outside. He left the doors open to let light come into the bunker.

He walked around the barrels they had already emptied or took with. _If they could ignore the smell and live with it, the bunker would provide good cover for us all_ , he thought to himself. He found a barrel in the corner that was still sealed. They had missed it when they were taking the useful stuff from the bunker. He pried it open and found some blankets and a pack of glow sticks. Seeing the blankets reminded him of Clarke being excited at finding them when they came around the first time. _It feels like a long time ago,_ Bellamy thought to himself. He could remember Clarke getting excited when firing the gun for the first time. She was very cute and Bellamy couldn’t help but react to it. He managed to hide it before she saw it. He always knew she was attractive, but he never let her see that he noticed it. He picked up the glow sticks, thanking whoever was careless to leave it behind. It was useful for him now. He popped a couple and threw it further down the bunker where it was very dark and sunlight didn’t spread to.

He found the place where he discovered the guns. The barrel he kicked over was there and the grease had drained. He walked around it, not willing to slip and fall. He realized as he walked further that the bunker extended more than what he noticed before. They were excited about finding the guns and returned back to the camp to share the good news. Now, he had the chance to explore further. He used another couple of glow sticks in the dark area of the bunker and walked in.

Maybe it was the lack of torch this time around. Or maybe it was his desperation to find anything useful. Bellamy found a hidden section in the bunker that wasn’t visible to whoever walked around. Bellamy found it when he accidentally tripped on a hole in the ground and put his hand on the wall to steady himself. He felt the wall end around the corner, but visually it looked like it was going further down. He felt around until he realized there was a section in the wall that is not visible if you see it in the semi-dark atmosphere. Bellamy walked around and found a few more barrels.

He pried one of the barrels open and found another grease barrel. It could only mean one thing. More guns. He put his hand inside and pulled out a rifle. He checked and found a lot more in there. He checked another barrel and found ammo in it. He fed some of the bullets into the rifle he was holding, to test it out. Last time he tried the gun, some of the bullets were duds. Luckily, this time around, he found a barrel that had bullets that are useful. He shot a couple just to check and they worked. He didn’t want to waste any more ammunition. He sealed it back to come back for it later. He loaded his rifle and some spare ammo in case he needs it. He also picked a handgun and put it in his belt buckle.

He put a mark on the wall, so he can find it next time and picked up his gear from the floor. He had picked up a blanket for himself in case he needs it, and left the bunker in a hurry to get back to camp. His instinct had been right and from the look of what he found; the camp could be armed enough to repel the grounder army. At least until the Ark arrived. And in this dire circumstance, Bellamy had decided to protect Octavia and help the camp more than saving himself.

\---- 100 ----

Bellamy was carrying the weapons as he moved towards his cave. He needed to get his stuff before he went towards the camp. The camp was in the opposite direction of the bunker anyway, so he didn’t want to carry his backpack and gear when he went to the bunker. And it was a good thing too, since it allowed him to carry what he could without feeling overweight.

When he was near his cave, he heard noises in the woods. Immediately he tensed up, wondering who it could be. After the attack by the wolves, he is more cautious about threats from his surroundings. He pulled out his handgun and unlocked the safety, as it was easier to point and shoot than the rifle. Pointing in front of him, he walked through the woods towards the noise he heard.

He walked through the thick canopy of bushes and came to a vantage point, where he was able to see where the noises were coming from. It was a bunch of grounders busily going through the bushes searching for herbs in them. They had a bucket in their back where they were putting the herbs they picked out. Bellamy relaxed, when he realized that these grounders were just minding their business and not looking for him or attacking him. But he didn’t put the gun back in his holster. He was about to turn back towards his cave when he noticed one of the people in the group. It was the grounder he met yesterday with Lincoln. He never got his name, but from what he could tell, that grounder was one of the healers in the village. Bellamy didn’t get the chance to thank him for what he did. After the hospitality he experienced with the grounders and the village especially, he felt indebted to them.

Deciding on his course of action, he started to walk around to go down where the grounders were at. But before he could reach them, the scene changed from calm to chaos. Out of nowhere, a lot of shouting and hooting came. Bellamy took cover immediately and pulled out his rifle. The grounders looked terrified as they stared all around. One of them tried to run, but was struck down by a spear out of nowhere. The grounder Bellamy knew was trying to call out to others and make them huddle together in the middle, while looking around for the enemies.

Then Bellamy saw the others. They looked like the grounders but more aggressive. _Could that be the faction belonging to Anya?_ Bellamy wondered. They looked feral and ready to attack. They had the village grounders surrounded. The village grounders tried attacking, but they were knocked down easily. The feral grounders had clubs and knives that they swung at the villagers. The villagers were outnumbered and didn’t have the strength to beat the feral grounders. The grounder Bellamy knew, seem to be in charge yelling out something he couldn’t understand. The others put their weapons on the ground and kneeled down. Bellamy could tell that they were surrendering, because they knew they had lost and they didn’t have any backup.

He was conflicted. His head was telling him to go back to his camp and tell them about the weapons and get them prepared for the grounder attack. Possibly from the same people who were attacking the village grounders here. Doing anything to jeopardize that was a big risk. But his heart was telling him that he needs to help the people who helped him at the risk of possible retribution with nothing to gain. He wondered if this attack was a direct result for what they did for him. And that didn’t sit right with him.

In the end, his heart won against his head. With decision made, he sprung to action. The feral grounders had relaxed, now that they had captured the village grounders. It gave him an advantage and the vantage point he was at, gave him enough cover from them. He positioned himself with the rifle and waited. The village grounders were pulled towards a log and tied on it. Once that was done, the feral grounders started walking with them in the middle. There were ten in total with five leading at the front and five following behind. This gave Bellamy the opportunity he needed. The village grounders were clear from his targets. There was more than enough space between the prisoners and the attackers to not be collateral victims. Bellamy knew it was now or never. He switched the rifle to automatic and took aim.

Bellamy is skilled in weapons. He was at the top of the class when he was in the guard training. He knew how to fire under pressure and his accuracy is pretty good. So, he didn’t have any trouble when he took aim and fired at the grounder in lead of the group. The grounder dropped after being riddled with bullets and Bellamy continued firing at the other feral grounders who were panicking with the gun fire that they couldn’t see. Within a few seconds, the remaining grounders in front had fallen and the ones in the back were in disarray, trying to find a target to attack. Bellamy switched his angle and targeted the ones in the back. He fired at them quickly and the only remaining grounders were the ones tied to the log. They were panicking too, but they couldn’t run around with the log they were tied to. After assuring himself there were no one else around, Bellamy slipped down the hill towards the clearing where everyone was at.

“Hey. Hey.” He called out as he got near the prisoners. They were stressed and trying to see where the sound was coming from, but they couldn’t turn fully without turning the log. Bellamy came to the view of the grounder he knew.

“It’s ok. You’re safe.” Bellamy said in a calm tone. The grounder looked at his face and realizing who it was, translated it to others. They all visibly calmed down when they heard it said from the lead grounder.

“Let me get you out of these ropes.” Bellamy pulled out his knife and started cutting the rope of the grounder. Once done, the grounder walked away from the log towards the ground where one of the feral grounders were at, and turned him so he was lying down face up. He kneeled down next to him and pulled a knife hosted in a sheathe from the body. He used that knife to cut the other grounders as Bellamy kept freeing others in the other side of the log.

Once everyone was freed, the grounder Bellamy knew came to him. Bellamy stood straight, looking at the man. The grounder reached out and clasped Bellamy’s hands like Lincoln did a few days ago.

“Thank you” He said in English to Bellamy.

“Consider us even. You helped save my life and I helped yours.” Bellamy nodded in appreciation. He had planned to thank the grounder, but instead ended up saving them.

“I’m Nyko of Trikru” The grounder introduced himself. Nyko seemed to be appreciating Bellamy and the hostility he saw yesterday was gone now.

“Pleased to meet you.” Bellamy replied politely. He looked around.

“Is this Anya’s clan?” He asked Nyko, curious.

Nyko looked at the bodies in ground and spat. “These are reapers. Raiding party for the mountain men.” He hissed with hatred. Bellamy could tell that Nyko had a hate for these people, that even he didn’t receive yesterday.

“Reapers?” Bellamy asked confused. Nyko looked back at him. “Indra will explain. Let’s go.” He replied, and went to help one of the grounders. At that time, one of the feral grounders moaned. Bellamy pulled out his handgun immediately but before he could shoot, Nyko had stumped the grounder in the chest, silencing him. And then he kneeled down and slit his throat with his knife for good measure.

“Yu gonplei ste odon.” (Your fight is over) Nyko said to the grounder on the ground as he stood.

Bellamy silently walked away to the other grounders who were struggling to walk. He helped another person with injured leg lean on him and the grounder smiled at him gratefully. Bellamy helped as he carried one of the baskets abandoned on the floor in one of his arms and the helping the grounder lean and walk towards the village. Nyko led the way with a few injured grounders as Bellamy and the other grounder followed.

\---- 100 ----

The village wasn’t far from where they were at. They reached there at relatively short time. The village was busy with activity as usual, but as soon as they saw the wounded people walking in, they focused on them. Someone yelled out something in their language and after a minute, Bellamy saw Indra rushing to the front. She paused for a second to take the scene in front of her, before she sprinted forward and supported one of the grounders walking on their own. When people saw her do that, others acted quickly and helped the injured. Bellamy saw a few grounders came to help the man he was holding onto, and they all walked towards the hut in the section Bellamy was before. He realized that must be their medicine huts.

He stood there, being stared at by the other grounders looking nervous. But he didn’t have to wait long as Indra came back with Nyko following her.

“What happened?” She asked Bellamy. Her eyes dropped to his rifle that he was still carrying and she took a quick look through the weapons he carried that he didn’t have before.

“Came across Nyko and others on my way to my camp. Saw them being attacked by the others. Decided to help.” Bellamy explained shortly. He was able to understand the nervous stares from the villagers now. They were distrustful of people carrying guns.

“They’re the raiding party of reapers. Sent by the mountain men to capture our people.” Indra explained, with fury in her gaze. Her anger with the mountain men were clearly visible as last time, when she mentioned them.

“Why would they do that?” Bellamy asked curiously. He couldn’t see any logical reason for why they would capture the grounders. Killing them would make more sense than capturing them.

“We don’t know. But nobody ever returns from there as they were. Those who return are more violent and not themselves.” Indra answered and had a faraway look getting lost in her memories. Bellamy could tell that Indra had lost someone close to her that way. He didn’t pry any further.

“I’m sorry for your losses.” He said sympathetically. Indra looked up at him, focusing on the present. Her expression was lighter than what he saw last time when he met her.

“Thank you for what you did. We would have lost Nyko and others if you didn’t save them.” Indra bowed her head in respect that Bellamy returned.

“It’s the least I could do after what you did for me.” Bellamy replied, embarrassed. He wasn’t used to being appreciated by this many people before.

“I can see that Lincoln was wise to save you. You have earned my trust, Bellamy of Skaikru. I hope one day there will be peace between our people.” Indra offered her hand of friendship by offering her hand. Bellamy accepted it gratefully.

“Is there anything you can do about Anya?” Bellamy asked desperately. Even though he may have made peace with the Trikru, he knew Anya is still a threat for his people.

Indra had a troubled expression at his request. She looked at Nyko who shook his head and she grimaced in understanding, before looking back at Bellamy’s earnest face.

“I’m sorry. I may be the leader of Trikru, but Anya doesn’t follow my instructions. She has a closer bond with the heda of the Coalition. She trained her as a child and the only person she will listen to, is the heda.” Indra explained regretfully.

“Heda?” Bellamy asked, not understanding the meaning.

“I believe you call it the Commander.” Nyko clarified.

Bellamy was dejected. He hoped that Indra offering friendship would help them with the situation they are facing.

“Is there anything that can be done? Can we meet the commander?” He asked Indra. He was looking for a way to prevent the war.

“Heda doesn’t give audience to those she has deemed enemies. But I can ride to the capitol and speak to her. I cannot promise anything.” Indra warned.

“Anything you can do will be great. We don’t want this war.” Bellamy requested. Indra nodded in understanding and turned around towards her village.

Bellamy took that as his leave and walked out of the gate. He realized it was too late for him to walk to the camp by then. He didn’t want to surprise them in the dark, in case they are alert and shoot anyone coming in the middle of the night. He decided to wait until the next day to go meet them. Truth be told, even though he wanted to go back, he wasn’t sure how welcoming they will be after the way he left them.


	8. Chapter 08

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clarke’s POV. Some of it will be from Octavia’s POV.

_Clarke: Day 5…_

Clarke woke up that morning, tired than she went to bed. The night before came rushing into her mind as soon as her eyes opened up. She couldn’t shake the image of Murphy in her dreams, so it wasn’t a surprise that was the first thing in her mind when she woke up.

They found Murphy beaten and bleeding outside the gates. Nobody was aware how he managed to get there or why he was in that shape. He was in no condition to explain anything. They dragged him into the med bay and patched him up as much as they could. Clarke inspected his wounds and most of them were healing already. The injuries were consistent of prolonged torture, which meant he had been captured for a lot longer than yesterday and she couldn’t tell what they used on him. She cleaned all the wounds as well as she could and used the paste to the wounds. Since they had already dried up, she wasn’t sure how much use it would be. She also applied some of the aloe vera gel to soothe the pain he was probably experiencing.

Then came the argument of what to do with him. Everyone’s emotions were running high, so she tabled that discussion for the morning after everyone had time to process recent events. Murphy was isolated in the med bay and under guard by order of Miller as a precaution. Clarke agreed to that and left it at that, last night. She knew once she stepped out of her tent, she would need to face the discussion with the rest of her inner circle.

As expected, when she left her tent, others were already up and moving around closer to her tent. When she stepped out, they all turned and stared at her. She gave a sigh and nodded her head towards the dropship, where they can go and discuss the choice. She led the way without a word and saw others walking behind her.

Her first order of business was checking on Murphy. He was still unconscious and his pulse was irregular. Probably from the injuries his body was trying to heal. But there was nothing serious she could see to concern her. She checked the wounds she had wrapped last night to see if they were still bleeding and satisfied at the progress of their healing, re-applied the paste and wrapped them with new clean clothes. She left Murphy still lying in the cot as she walked back to the people waiting for her inside the dropship.

She could see Finn and Raven standing in front with Octavia and Miller on the sides. Monty and Jasper had also joined them standing in the back, not sure if they were wanted or not. Clarke smiled at them as a way of welcoming them and she saw them relax.

“Clarke. We need to talk about what to do with Murphy there.” Miller started the discussion. Clarke sighed and nodded in agreement.

“I think we should give him a second chance. To prove himself.” Finn voiced his opinion. As always, he wanted to show compassion which was his nature.

“It’s a big risk. He was banished for a reason. I may not have been here when it happened, but I have heard the stories.” Raven said, looking at Jasper and Monty who looked embarrassed at being the ones who told her. “To let him in now without knowing where he was and how he was injured is a big risk.”

Clarke couldn’t help but understand Raven’s point of view. In a way, it was true. Murphy was banished for leading the mob that led to the death of the young child Charlotte. But from the signs, it has not been a pleasant experience for Murphy to be out alone. A thought in her mind went through. _Is this what Bellamy is also facing, living alone in the woods?_ But then she remembered what Octavia told her last night. Bellamy is in Lincoln’s village which meant he was safe. The panic she felt at the thought of Bellamy experiencing this kind of torture settled down. She couldn’t explain why she felt that and she pushed it further into her mind. There was no time for that now.

“He was in the woods just like Bellamy.” Finn pointed out while Clarke was lost in her thoughts.

“So?” Octavia asked in a tone that was borderline threatening.

“If Bellamy showed up here, will we be questioning his motives or will we let him in?” Finn asked Octavia pointedly and stared at Clarke. It was like he was asking her something non-verbal and she didn’t understand the question.

“First of all, Bellamy wasn’t banished for a crime. And second, he didn’t threaten anyone in the camp by his actions. He left on his own and when he comes back, I will knock you out before you say anything against him.” Octavia openly threatened Finn this time.

Finn for his own sake, realized that the threat was serious and backed off. He ignored Octavia’s glare and stared at Clarke instead.

“What do you think Octavia?” Clarke asked the girl trying to get her to focus without jumping at Finn. She wasn’t sure what will happen if she did. She knew Raven will be protecting Finn, but she was mixed on what she would do. Protecting Finn would mean supporting what he said and she didn’t agree with his assessment on Bellamy. She also didn’t want to get on the bad side of Octavia either.

Octavia huffed to control her anger before answering. “I think it’s a risk. He was probably tortured by grounders for information and he may have told them everything about us. Letting him in now means giving him more information that he would probably reveal again.” Clarke nodded with her assessment.

“We vote for not killing too.” Jasper and Monty shouted from the back and Clarke smiled at them. They may be the relaxed bunch of her inner circle goofing around even with the threat of the grounders looming. But she could count on them.

“Ok. So, let’s compromise. We keep him isolated in the med bay until his wounds are healed. We find out anything he could tell us about the grounders and what he experienced. Once he is better, we send him out on his own.” Finn seemed to agree with her decision. Octavia wasn’t convinced and Miller definitely didn’t agree. Raven seemed to nod to agree with her for now. Jasper and Monty definitely was happy with the no killing choice.

“What if he refuses to leave?” Miller asked the question. Clarke took a moment to think it through. “Then we kill him.” Miller seemed to be satisfied with that.

As a doctor, she couldn’t let herself kill someone even if they were a threat. She is worried that this may end up being her weakness as she led her people into the war with the grounders. But she couldn’t find it in her to kill or throw Murphy out in his condition without helping him.

“Oh my god!” Raven’s alert voice brought her back to focus on her. Raven had a shocked expression as she pointed towards Clarke. Clarke couldn’t understand it at first.

“Your eyes.” Raven said and Clarke raised her hand to touch her eyes. When she pulled it back from her face, she saw blood coming from her eyes.

All of a sudden, a dizziness came over her. She felt the ground move and shake, as her head started spinning. She thought she heard yelling around her, but she couldn’t focus. She tried to stay on her feet, but the ground was moving so much that she felt herself slip. She suddenly felt pressure in her arms holding her and helping her steady. She looked up at the eyes of Miller staring down at her and Octavia hovering over her face with concern. She felt herself being dragged along and she let them, because she couldn’t feel her legs anymore. She felt them pushing her somewhere and her back made contact with fabric and she realized she fell into the cot in the med bay.

There were lot of noises around her, but she couldn’t focus on any of the voices. Her head felt very heavy and she lost conscious.

\---- 100 ----

Octavia was lost. She didn’t know what to do. They were talking in the dropship about what to do about Murphy. Clarke decided to treat him and get information from him, which made strategic sense but came with a risk. But then Clarke started bleeding from her eyes and started to fall. Octavia jumped catch her before she fell and Miller also caught her on the other side. They both held her and when Finn tried to help, Raven pulled him back saying there were enough people to help. Octavia couldn’t help but agree. She has seen how Finn has been following Clarke like a lost puppy while his girlfriend was standing right next to him. It made her feel sorry for Raven. She was glad that her initial crush on Finn faded away fast, because she would hate to be in the position Clarke or Raven was in right now.

Once Clarke was settled on the cot, they didn’t know what to do. She was the doctor in the camp. She may have shown the ropes to a few people around the camp. But nobody could diagnose anything yet. They just waited until she gained conscious. When she started to cough up blood, everyone in waiting panicked. Octavia reacted first and used a wet cloth to wipe her mouth and cleaned up the blood. Clarke was still unconscious. Octavia knew well enough that coughing while lying on the back is risky. So, she pushed Clarke to her side so if she coughs again, she will spit it out without it getting stuck in her throat.

Soon, she started to hear coughing outside the dropship. The group walked out to see many people around the camp coughing and some were already passed out on the ground.

Raven took action, organizing the sick to be brought into the dropship while keeping others outside. Octavia having seen Clarke treat people, remained in the dropship helping people coming in. One by one, the numbers kept increasing. Soon, the dropship was out of space and people were put on the floor with Octavia, Jasper and Monty helping the sick. Somehow, none of them got sick.

Octavia saw Murphy stirring as he woke up. She moved to him to check, in case he attacked. She didn’t want Jasper or Monty to be near if he attacked. But Murphy seemed too weak to be able to do anything.

“Wat… Water?” He croaked. His throat sounded raw. Octavia moved and got him water to drink.

“What happened?” Murphy asked when he saw all the bodies inside the dropship.

“Don’t know. Some kind of sickness.” Octavia said looking around.

“Can I help?” He asked. Octavia looked at him, unsure. “You should rest. You just woke up from your own injuries.” She pointed out.

“I’ll be fine. I just want to help.” He told her. She believed him as he sounded sincere. But she was wary of him as well, having seen his cunning side before.

A noise from behind caught both their attention. She moved quickly and saw that Clarke was waking up.

“Clarke!” she exclaimed with relief when she saw her.

“Water.” Clarke asked and Octavia gave her the water she was holding that she gave to Murphy before.

“What happened?” Clarke asked. Octavia had trouble explaining to her as well.

“A lot of people fell sick. We don’t know why or how. Some of us are ok for now but we don’t know for how long. We need you.” Octavia said helplessly.

Clarke struggled and sat up from her cot. Her body felt like it was held up by threads, but she had to help her people. There was no time for her to recover.

She walked to the nearest body and inspected them. She checked the eyes and saw the blood she saw in her own, before she fell unconscious. The coughed-up blood had coagulated in the cloth next to the head. She could tell it was some kind of haemorrhagic fever that is being spread. But it was too late to contain now. They had to ride it out. She hoped it was not life threatening.

“Is anyone’s condition worse than this?” She asked Octavia. Octavia nodded and pointed to a corner. Clarke moved there and as she neared them, she realized that a few had already died. There were no movement in their chest as sign of them breathing. She double checked their pulse for a slim hope she was wrong, but unfortunately she wasn’t.

She checked others whose coughs were stronger and more violent. She felt helpless to do anything.

“Did anyone contact the Ark? Was my mother able to suggest anything?” Clarke asked Octavia.

“Raven contacted them. Abby told her that she can’t diagnose infection without being here. She suggested to keep everyone hydrated and ride it out.” Octavia replied. Clarke nodded in agreement. That is what she would suggest as well.

“We need help. We need someone who may know about this.” She turned towards Octavia. “We need Lincoln.”

Octavia looked at Clarke, surprised. This is the first time Clarke voluntarily asked for Lincoln.

“He may know what this disease is. He may already have a cure. I need you to go and find him.” Clarke told her. Octavia nodded and sprinted out the dropship door.

Clarke watched her move out of the gate and prayed that she didn’t fall ill on her way out. She knew Bellamy will never forgive her if anything happened to his little sister. And truth be told, she wouldn’t forgive herself either.

“Hey” A voice from afar called out to her. She turned around and saw Murphy now standing from his bed.

“You’re up.” She said surprised. In all this chaos, she forgot about the banished member of the delinquents.

“Yes. Thanks to you. Can I help?” He asked. Clarke looked at him trying to decide. But in the current situation, any help is useful. She nodded.

“Keep everyone hydrated. Feed them water. Get some from the collection tanks.” She instructed. Murphy nodded and moved to assist.

Clarke found Finn near her cot. He seemed to have fallen sick, sitting there waiting for her to wake up. She checked on him to confirm he wasn’t at risk of dying before feeding him water. She took care of the rest in the dropship with Jasper and Monty and Murphy before stepping out. The camp was in disarray with a lot of people having fallen sick and stayed where they were. She moved around checking at them. She found Miller sitting near the gate, unconscious. His coughing and bleeding were lesser and she made sure he was on the ground to his side before getting him some water. Raven was at the communication tent probably talking to Ark and she was bleeding from her eyes, but didn’t pass out yet.

When she got back to the dropship, she found Jasper and Monty has been helping people who had started to wake up. Some had not and their condition was worsening. She hoped that Octavia came up with a cure.

\---- 100 ----

Octavia ran through the woods to the place where she normally met Lincoln. She hoped she will find him, because she didn’t know the way to his camp.

As luck would have it, Lincoln was waiting for her in their cave. She ran into his arms and hugged him tight.

“What happened?” Lincoln asked her, noticing her panic.

“Some kind of sickness has spread around the camp. People are bleeding from their eyes and dropping like flies.” She told him in a rush.

Lincoln immediately started to check Octavia for any signs of bleeding. Seeing none, he let a breath of relief. At her questioning glance, Lincoln looked conflicted. He knew what Octavia was talking about and if it was what he thought it was, it’s bad for the Skaikru.

“Did anyone new come into the camp? Did Bellamy arrive?” Lincoln asked.

“My brother?” Octavia asked confused. “No, he didn’t. I thought he was at your village?” She questioned.

“He left around mid-day. I thought he was coming to your camp. Maybe he will come tomorrow.” Lincoln informed her. Octavia was surprised, but that conversation could wait for now. Her immediate concern was what was happening in the camp right now.

“Do you know anything about the sickness? Is there a cure?” She asked him.

“I have heard of this sickness. It is usually spread onto the enemy, before an attack. A person is infected and returned to the enemy hoping to weaken them.” Lincoln told her.

“Weaken? Then why are people dying?” Octavia asked. She had seen people die before she left.

“Weaker people will die. The strongest ones will not get sick. Like you.” Lincoln told her. He sounded proud that Octavia was not sick. She felt flattered that he thought of her as strong.

“Is there anything we can do to help them?” She pleaded desperately.

Lincoln shook his head. “There’s no known cure. Some herbs may help them endure, but it is delaying the inevitable. They’ll be weak when the attack from Anya comes.”

“What can we do? How can we survive?” Octavia asked. Lincoln shook his head.

“Not all of you can. But you can. Your brother can. I can get you both safely across to the east to the sea. There’s a clan that I trust who can take us in. We’ll be safe from Anya’s attack.”

“I can’t let them get killed. I must find my brother.” Octavia told him. She needed to find Bellamy.

“I’ll wait for you here tomorrow. You can warn them and then you need to leave. With or without your brother.” Lincoln told her. He hoped that both Octavia and Bellamy will come with him. He needed to take them away from Anya’s attack and he can’t bring them to his village.

“I’ll come back. I promise.” Octavia assured him.

“Let me help you find those herbs.” With that, Lincoln and Octavia left the cave in search of the herbs.

\---- 100 ----

Clarke had lost fourteen of the delinquents by the time Octavia came back.

“Did you find Lincoln? Is there a cure?” Clarke asked her in a hurry. Octavia shook her head negatively.

“He gave me these herbs that could help endure the sickness until it passes. It’s not deadly for everyone, he said. They use it to soften the enemy before the attack.” Octavia informed her.

“Attack?” Clarke asked shocked. She knew it was coming but she didn’t realize it was immediate.

“Lincoln wasn’t sure when. But he wanted to warn us and tell us to prepare.” Octavia told Clarke as Clarke worked on grounding the herbs.

“Here. Give this to everyone sick with water.” She passed it to Jasper and Monty, who took it from her and ran towards those who were still sick.

“Did he say anything else?” She asked Octavia, when she was able to focus back on her.

Octavia looked towards Murphy, who was still helping others in the med bay. Understanding her non-verbal signs, Clarke held onto her arm as they walked out of the dropship.

Once they were away from the earshot of dropship, Octavia started to speak.

“Lincoln thinks that Murphy could be the one who brought the sickness. He said, they usually released a prisoner after infecting them into the enemy to weaken them.” She told Clarke.

“Biological warfare. I suspected as much.” Clarke said dejectedly. She suspected the coincidence of Murphy showing up and a sickness spreading the very next day. But she had no proof as Murphy didn’t have any of the symptom others had.

“Was there anything he said about the attack?” She asked Octavia again. She was desperate for anything to survive the oncoming attack. At their current state, they can’t defend let alone attack the army that will be coming.

“He said Bellamy is on his way here.” Clarke was surprised at that news. It wasn’t what she was expecting. “He said if Bell wasn’t here already, he will come tomorrow.” Octavia stated.

Clarke couldn’t help the flutter inside her stomach at hearing that. Somehow, the news of Bellamy coming back gave her a boost of strength and energy that made no sense to her. It was as if his arrival alone was like an army coming as backup.

“Oh.” That was all she was able to say. She couldn’t express the volume of emotions rushing over her.

“Lincoln said there’s a clan by the sea that could take us in. Not all of us, but some of us. He offered to take Bellamy and me with him tomorrow before Anya attacks.” Octavia told Clarke about the offer she got from Lincoln.

“Anya?” Clarke asked confused.

“Didn’t ask Lincoln, but seems like she’s the leader of the attack.” Octavia explained what she assumed. She didn’t have much time to ask Lincoln all the questions.

“Do we know why she’s attacking?” Clarke asked. Octavia scrunched up her face realizing she never asked Lincoln that question.

“I didn’t ask. But it’s too late now anyway. We need to prepare.” Octavia stated. Clarke looked around and realized that was the truth.

“Hopefully we will have enough people recovered to mount a defence. With Bellamy here, maybe we will have a chance at fighting back.” Clarke said hopefully.

“You’re right. Let us hope.” Octavia said and walked towards those waking up.

Clarke moved to the communication tent and found Raven passed out from the sickness. Clarke made sure she was safe and fed her water before moving around checking others.

\---- 100 ----

It was well into the night when everyone started to recover from the fever. Clarke was tired beyond expression. Lincoln’s herb stopped any further deaths by the fever and everyone was recovering in various stages. Those who had recovered first, helped dig out the graves in the back of the camp for those who died. Next to Wells and others who had died before. Clarke stood there looking at all those who died feeling responsible for their deaths.

“Hey.” A voice from behind called out. She turned around and looked at Finn approaching her.

She didn’t reply and turned back to stare at the graves sullenly.

“It’s not your fault Clarke.” He told her. Clarke chuckled sadly.

“I’m the doctor here.” She said as a point of fact.

“But that doesn’t mean you can save everyone.” Finn argued.

“I know that. But these deaths were pointless. They died for no reason.” She told him. A death should have meaning and the deaths in front of her had none.

“That’s the result of a war.” Finn pointed out. Clarke could hear the slight judgement in that tone. Her eyes narrowed as she listened.

“We’ll have more deaths if we carry on fighting the grounders.” Finn continued.

“We’re not fighting them. They’re attacking us. We don’t have any choice but to fight back.” Clarke said angrily.

“We could find a different choice. Make peace with them.” Finn argued.

“How Finn? Should we just walk to their camp and ask for peace? Tell me how.” Clarke turned all her anger at him and his ridiculous notion.

Finn stayed quiet. He didn’t want to argue with her. He came to console her and arguing is not going to help.

“Come here.” He said and tried to pull her by her arm toward him. Clarke stood her ground, not moving. He tried to pull her stronger and she snatched her arm away from him.

“I just need to be alone right now.” Clarke told him and walked away. Finn shook his head in disappointment at making peace with her. He turned towards the gate back to the camp and saw Raven standing there. From her angle, she should have been able to see everything.

Raven stared right at him and Finn started fidgeting.

“Hey.” He said awkwardly.

“You didn’t come.” She stated as a fact. Finn looked at her confused.

“When I fell sick, you didn’t come.” She told him. Finn could hear her disappointment at the tone.

“Oh. That’s because I was sick too.” He pointed out.

“Yeah. You got sick waiting on Clarke to wake up. It’s what Octavia and Jasper and Monty were doing.” Raven’s voice started to rise up.

“Because she’s the doctor. She needed to be ok to look after others.” Finn knew it was weak as he argued. He knew Raven could see the underlying reason.

“Even after you woke up, you didn’t come to check on me. Clarke came. Octavia came. Even Jasper and Monty came. Where were you Finn?” Raven asked voice breaking.

“Raven, I love you.” He told her, hoping that would make everything ok.

“No, you don’t. Not really. Not the way I want to be loved. Not the way I deserve to be loved. You don’t love me like that.” Raven stated as tears started to well up in her eyes.

Finn stood there unable to say anything. Because he knew what she was saying was the truth.

“You love her like that. And I can’t wait around until you choose. So, I am deciding now. It’s over.” With that, Raven turned around and walked to her camp.

Finn stood there processing what had happened.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clarke’s POV with a little bit of Octavia’s POV.

_Clarke: Day 6…_

Clarke didn’t get much sleep last night. She was dreading the attack that was looming over them and she was restless. She still didn’t know how to defend themselves and Miller had been getting the delinquents prepared for the oncoming attack. They had strengthened the wall and created strategic fox holes to attack from outside the wall. Bellamy was right. Miller had a good head when it came to planning for battle. He probably learned it from his father who was a guard at the Ark.

She was busy at the med bay in the morning, checking on the last of her patients still recovering from the fever. She saw that there was one more death over-night. She remembered the last victim from before. He was one of the last to fall ill yesterday. His condition must have worsened and the herbs didn’t help. She could recall his name as Connor or something. He was with Bellamy after they landed when Bellamy had his followers. She knew Bellamy would be sad that he had died.

She ran into Murphy at the med bay, helping others. She was still wary of him, but so far, he hasn’t done anything to show himself as a threat. But now that he was up and walking, it was time for them to find out what he knew.

“Murphy?” She called him from behind and saw him turn to look at her. He was hesitant and looked wary.

“We need to talk.” She told him plainly. She saw him nod his head in understanding and follow her as she walked away from the sick people in med bay.

She walked to the middle of the camp where she could see her inner circle doing different tasks in the morning. She went up to them and after brief welcome, invited them to her tent so they can all discuss with Murphy on what he knew.

Once she had assembled them all, she looked at the people in front of her and frowned. There was one person missing. Finn. She looked around the camp and couldn’t see him.

“Where’s Finn?” She asked in general. She saw Raven look guilty and avoided eye contact. She could tell something had happened last night between them. She saw her on her way back in last night after Finn approached her. But she left it to rest for now.

“He decided to take a team for hunting in the morning.” Miller informed her. She could tell he was against that decision.

“What? Now? We are facing an attack anytime soon and he went hunting?” Clarke couldn’t understand what Finn was thinking.

“I think he wanted to get away from here. He decided to go hunting and refused to listen when I told him it was a bad idea. He got a couple of people to go with him.” Miller said frustrated. Clarke could tell that even though Miller has been doing well with the security and protection around the camp, he wasn’t as forceful as Bellamy is. Bellamy would have knocked Finn down before he left the camp to keep him inside. That much Clarke was sure of.

“Let me know when he’s back as soon as he does.” She told Miller who nodded in understanding.

“Now, we need to know what Murphy knows. Since he’s healing and strong enough, we need to find out anything he could say about the grounders.” She told the group in general.

Murphy listening to her chuckled. Everyone’s attention focused on him as he cleared his throat.

“What do you want to know about the grounders huh? They’re vicious. Cruel. They tortured me for days after capturing me.” He said sarcastically.

“I know Murphy.” Clarke said sympathetically. “I saw your injuries. They tore your fingernails. It is still healing. They had cut you many times. I can see the scars in your body.”

“Yeah. They did a lot more than that. They enjoy torture. And they are angry. They will not show mercy when they get here.” He stated as a fact. Clarke could see that he was speaking the truth.

“What do they know about us?” Miller demanded to know.

“Everything.” Murphy said in a choked voice. He was reliving the torture he endured. Everyone gasped, realizing that the grounders had all their inside information.

“We know they sent you here infected, so you can spread it to us. They wanted us weak when they attacked.” Clarke told him. Murphy looked surprised at that.

"I didn't know about this, okay, I swear." Murphy promised them. Clarke stared at him and she could see the truth in his eyes.

“I believe you.” She could see Murphy physically relax when she said it.

“But we need a plan to protect ourselves. Is there anything you can tell that would help us?” She asked Murphy who shook his head negatively.

“I ran from their camp. When I woke up one morning, they had forgot to lock my cage. I didn’t see anyone nearby. So, I ran and hid in the trees. Crossed the bridge and ran in the general direction towards the camp. I can’t remember how I made it here. When I woke up next, I was in the dropship.” He told them.

Clarke nodded her head after listening. “They let you go.” Then she looked at him quizzically.

“How long did it take for you to get here from there?” She asked him.

“I don’t know. Maybe two days? I was running all night because I was afraid if I stopped, they will catch me.” Murphy shrugged.

Clarke looked at the others. “We are two days from them. If they are coming as an army, that should slow them down even longer. So, we may have two days to prepare for them.”

“I’ll get more people on the security detail and barricade the walls.” Miller told her.

“I’ll keep continuing to make bullets. We need as much as we could before they come.” Raven said. “I’ll help.” Jasper offered which Raven accepted with a smile.

“I’ll help you in the med bay.” Octavia offered. “Me too.” Murphy told her. She nodded at them in appreciation.

“Let’s get to work.” And with that, they all stepped out of the tent to go do their tasks.

\---- 100 ----

The sun was going down and there was no sign of Finn or the hunting party. Usually, they take days in the woods, but Clarke knew now was not the time to be spending time like that when they are expecting to be attacked. She was still fuming at Finn for taking off, but she couldn’t help be concerned about his wellbeing either.

It was almost dark when Miller came to her to tell that Finn had arrived. She rushed back to the gate and saw him there alone without his hunting companions. And there was nothing from the hunt, but Finn looked excited to see her. She frowned at that and waved him over so she could talk to him privately.

They walked into his tent and she could see eyes following them as she did. But she didn’t turn around to see who was watching as she had more important things to deal with than camp gossip.

“What happened?” She asked Finn as soon as she was inside and they were alone.

“I went hunting with Steve and Adam. We were running short of cured meat and we needed to stock up before winter comes.” Finn explained and Clarke huffed at him.

“We are facing an attack any day now and you choose to hunt for winter? Finn, we won’t even be alive until winter.” She said exasperated.

“I wanted us to be prepared.” He said weakly. He knew they were getting side tracked so he continued further. “While we were hunting, the grounders ambushed us.” Clarke’s eyes widen and stared at him in shock.

“What happened?” She asked again, concern in her tone now.

“Steve and Adam didn’t make it.” Finn said sadly. He was a pacifist and anyone’s death is pointless. “They attacked us and killed them quickly. I thought I was also dead, but they just knocked me down.” He said showing her the bruise in the back of his shoulder from where they hit him. It was swollen but she could tell there were no internal injuries.

“I was taken to a makeshift camp nearby. It was only a few grounders there. But I met the one in charge.” Finn said excitedly. He couldn’t wait to share the news with her. Clarke remained impassive listening to him.

“Her name is Anya. She has been the one attacking us. She sent Murphy here to weaken us with the sickness.” Finn informed.

Clarke said “I know.” At Finn’s surprised expression, she realized that she hadn’t told him anything about what Octavia told her yesterday. She didn’t feel like explaining, so she stayed quiet waiting for him to continue.

Finn realizing that she wasn’t going to say anything more, continued. “Anya expected us to be sick when she attacked. But her scouts had informed her that we were recovering today. She didn’t expect that. She believes that you are a powerful healer or someone with mystical powers. She wants to meet you.” Finn told her. Clarke could tell that Finn was all for the meet.

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea.” She trailed off when she realized Finn was going to interrupt.

“I know this is a long shot. But this is a good opportunity to make peace with the grounders. They are reaching out and we should accept it.” Finn told her. He was convinced that they could make peace with the grounders.

“They have done nothing but kill us Finn. They sent in a biological weapon at us, just before they attacked us. How can we trust what she says?” Clarke questioned him.

“Don’t you want to resolve this without a conflict? Without what Bellamy would do?” Clarke stepped back as if Finn had slapped her with his question.

“Look. You asked me last night how we can make peace with the grounders. Well, now I have found you the way. I think you should take it.” Finn told her. He was proud of what he had achieved in the negotiation. And he wanted Clarke to see it.

Clarke could see the point in Finn’s argument. If there’s a genuine chance that they could achieve peace with the grounders, maybe she should take it. After all, Lincoln is friendly with Octavia and based on what he said, Bellamy was in the grounder village as well.

“Ok. We can meet. But we’re bringing backup.” Clarke stated.

Finn shook his head. “No way. We're not bringing guns. Those weren't the terms, and if we're gonna do this, we got to give it a fair shot.” He told her.

Clarke looked conflicted. One one hand, she wanted the peace with the grounders. But on the other, she couldn’t place her trust on them. Not completely. A nagging voice in the back of her head that sounded a lot like Bellamy was telling her _They'll probably gut you, string you up as a warning_.

She decided that she will bring backup, even if Finn doesn’t know about it. She refuses to be a victim. If the deal goes south, then they will be able to escape. If the deal succeeds, he wouldn’t have to know about it.

“Ok. Ok. What time is the meet? And where?” she asked him now that her choice was set.

Finn excited that she agreed with him, piped up. “It’s at dawn. Down by the bridge about three hours hike from here.”

“Ok. We should get settled in soon, so we can leave early in the morning.” Clarke told him and tried to leave. Finn reached out to her and caught her by her arm.

“This is a good thing Clarke. I have a good feel about this.” He said smiling at her.

At one point, Clarke would have been flustered at the way he was smiling at her. But after everything that happened in the camp and between her and Finn and Raven, it grated her. She wasn’t giving him mixed signals or any sign that she was interested in him anymore, but Finn keeps trying to reach to her.

“I hope so.” She said curtly and pulled her arm away from him and left leaving him frowning at her cold response.

As soon as she left Finn’s tent, she went straight to one person. Octavia. When Octavia saw her coming at her, she smiled and stood up.

“Hope you chewed him up for going hunting.” She said as a way of greeting. Clarke smiled but didn’t comment.

“I need your help.” She said quietly in a low voice. Octavia noticing the seriousness in her tone, stood straight and leaned in.

“I need you to go to Lincoln.” Clarke said. Octavia was surprised, but she wasn’t shocked anymore. Clarke seemed to be using her to communicate with Lincoln lately.

“Anya had sent Finn back with an offer of peace. She wants to meet first thing in the morning. I need to know how genuine the offer is. Can you ask Lincoln and get back to me?” She asked. Octavia nodded in understanding and took off quickly into the dark through the woods. Once again, Clarke was surprised at the agility of the young girl and hoped she will be safe.

Her next stop was to Raven. She hesitated before entering her tent. Raven was sitting at her desk busily working on making more bullets.

“Hey” she called out as a way to tell Raven she was there. Raven didn’t turn back as she kept busy with her work.

“Hey back.” Raven said non-committedly.

“How much do we have now?” Clarke asked as a way of breaking the tension and starting the communication.

“Not enough.” Raven said dejectedly as she looked at the dud pile of bullets on the ground. After Jasper coming up with a way to find dud bullets, it was easier for her to isolate them.

“Do we have enough for one mission?” She asked. That caught Raven’s attention and she turned around to look at Clarke quizzically.

“Why?” Raven asked curious.

“Apparently Finn made contact with Anya and her clan.” Raven’s eyes went wide at Clarke’s statement. “She sent him back with an offer to meet tomorrow morning.”

“What?” Raven spluttered. “Is he ok?” She asked Clarke.

“He seemed fine. But Steve and Adam who went with him didn’t survive.” Clarke said, upset. Raven could tell that Clarke was feeling guilty for the two additional deaths. She placed a hand on Clarke’s arm as a sign of comfort.

“You should go check on him.” Clarke told her. Raven shook her head negatively.

“No. I can’t. I broke up with him last night.” She told Clarke, looking away at her desk as a way to avoid seeing her.

“What?” Clarke said, surprised.

“Yeah. I couldn’t just string along when it was clear that he is in love with you.” Raven told her as a fact. She didn’t sound sad but she sounded like she had accepted it as a fact.

“Raven…” Clarke tried to intervene, but Raven held up her hand stopping her.

“I know Clarke. I’m not blaming you. But I can’t wait along either. I needed to move on with my life and admit that Finn chose you.” She chuckled at that.

“Raven…” Clarke said softly and Raven turned around to look at her. “Trust me when I say that I have no interest in Finn. It doesn’t matter how he feels about me. But anything I may have felt for him, vanished when I realized what he did to us both.” She hoped that Raven could see her sincerity.

Raven looked at Clarke in the face for a moment or two before nodding to acknowledge.

Clarke smiled and left Raven to her own work as she walked out of the tent.

Her next stop is to Miller. She found him near the walls working other delinquents to secure the walls.

“Hey Miller” she greeted him.

“Hi Clarke” He said, politely tilting his head in respect. Another thing he probably learned from his father, she suspected.

“Listen, I need you to come with me in the morning.” She told him straight. At his confused look, she whispered in a low voice so others won’t hear.

“Finn had arranged for a meet with Anya at the bridge in dawn.” Miller looked back surprised and concerned. Clarke nodded to confirm his non-verbal _seriously?_ question.

“The deal is that no guns are allowed. But I don’t trust them. I need you to bring guns and be my backup. Stay hidden and keep an eye for anything strange.” Clarke told him.

“Does Finn know?” Miller asked her curiously.

“Finn doesn’t need to know everything.” Clarke said as a fact. Miller hummed in response as if he had something to say but didn’t say it. Clarke didn’t prod any further about that.

“We’re good?” She asked him. He nodded in response.

With that, Clarke walked back towards her tent. It was already late and since she didn’t get much sleep last night, she needed to get some today so she can be alert in the meeting tomorrow. Any tiredness or distraction will leave her vulnerable.

\---- 100 ----

Octavia ran towards Lincoln’s cave as soon as she was in the woods. She has become accustomed to the path now and she didn’t have to even watch where she was going. She felt natural and comfortable amongst the woods. And knowing the importance of the meet as well as Lincoln waiting for her, she rushed there in a hurry.

Lincoln was waiting by the fire when she arrived. He was waiting for her as he promised. Octavia’s heart fluttered at the sight of him. She knew she could trust him with her life and she was overwhelmed by the feelings she had for him. She ran right into him and kissed him with all the emotions she was feeling and felt it being returned in same force.

They kept kissing for a while until something in the back of her mind reminded her of her mission. She pulled away from him, so she can focus.

“Did you decide?” Lincoln asked her with hope. He doesn’t express his emotions to anyone, but Octavia has come to read the underlying feelings from his voice.

“There’s been a change in plan.” Octavia told him. Lincoln looked at her confused.

“Anya had sent a message with one of ours she captured.” She said and Lincoln grunted.

“Is this the prisoner with the sickness?” He asked concerned. Octavia shook her head.

“No. One of ours decided to go hunting today morning with a couple of others.” Octavia said, rolling her eyes. Lincoln saw it and he couldn’t help but chuckle. They both agreed at the stupidity of going hunting when attack was imminent.

“Anya caught them and killed two of them. She left one of them to come back with a message. She wants to meet.” Octavia told him. Lincoln’s brows went up at the new information.

“Clarke sent me to talk to you. Find out if the offer is genuine and whether she should take it.” Octavia said and waited for him to respond. Lincoln remained quiet thinking.

“I don’t know what’s happening in their faction. But it’s unusual for Anya to offer anything when she has the army to defeat you.” Lincoln told her. Octavia nodded in understanding.

“You should warn your leader to be wary of anything they offer and be on your guard.” Lincoln suggested. He didn’t think Anya could show mercy or compassion. It was not her style. But then, Skaikru has proven to be resourceful in the past and maybe it has impressed Anya somehow.

“I will.” Octavia promised him. Before she turned around, Lincoln grabbed her by her arm pulling her towards him.

“Promise me that you will not go for the meet.” He demanded. He had a bad feeling that he couldn’t shake and he didn’t want Octavia anywhere near there.

“I can’t Linc. They’re my people. I need to be there with them when they need me.” Octavia said. She didn’t like to disagree with Lincoln, but she felt that she had no choice on this matter. Lincoln closed his eyes processing it.

“I will go find out more information. I will come meet you if I find anything. Remember what I taught you. Be aware of your surroundings. Watch out for any danger.” He warned her. He didn’t want to do it but if Octavia was putting herself at-risk, he was going to do anything he can to make sure she wasn’t walking into a trap. She nodded and he dipped his head down to kiss her again which she returned.

\---- 100 ----

Clarke completely forgot that she sent Octavia on a fact-finding mission until she saw said person coming through the gate on her way to her tent. As soon as she saw her, she changed direction as she rushed to the gate. Octavia met her halfway in a hurry.

“Let’s go to your tent.” Octavia told her in a rush and they both hurried to Clarke’s tent.

It seemed like Octavia had been running and she was trying to catch her breath once inside the tent. Clarke waited anxiously for the girl to get hold of herself, before she asked the questions.

“What happened?” Clarke asked when she saw Octavia starting to breathe normally.

“Lincoln was concerned. He said it was unusual for Anya to offer this now.” Octavia informed her. Clarke nodded as if she was expecting that.

“He also wanted me to warn you to be on guard and not be trusting. He was going to find out anything more and will meet us if he finds anything.” Octavia huffed and sat down exhausted from all the running.

“Yeah. I thought as much. When Finn said no weapons, I couldn’t help but think this is a trap.” Clarke told her. Octavia stared at her with a strange expression and Clarke got uncomfortable.

“What?” She said nervously. Octavia chuckled in response.

“You're sounding more and more like Bell than you right now.” Octavia pointed out. Clarke felt herself getting flushed at the comparison.

“What? No.” She denied.

“Yeah. The Clarke from before was all too trusting. And she generally agreed with Finn’s pacifist approaches. Since Bellamy left, you’ve become more hardened. More suspicious and more cautious. I like the new Clarke.” Octavia stated as a fact.

Clarke opened and closed her mouth a few times trying to come up with a retort. _Did I change that much?_ She didn’t feel like she had. After Bellamy left, she had to play the role he was playing which could have made her a bit more hardened. But she felt like herself in general. Now that Octavia had pointed out, she could see what she was referring to.

“We need to look for a chance to make peace with the grounders. But that doesn’t mean we should trust them blindly. I’m being cautious. That’s all.” She said defensively.

“Uh huh.” Octavia hummed in response with a cheeky smirk that was very much a Blake expression. Clarke huffed and refused to say anything.

“Ok. I’m off. Need to get some rest if we are leaving early in the morning.” Octavia said and got up. Clarke looked at her puzzled.

“You’re coming?” She asked at the girl. Octavia gave her a look. “Of course. Who else is going to keep you safe? Finn?” She mocked and left the tent.

Clarke couldn’t help but appreciate Octavia. She didn’t want to put the girl at risk, but she was glad that Octavia will be with her. Having her beside her will make her feel stronger.

She went to bed knowing tomorrow will come soon and she needs to be prepared.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have caught up to 6 days since Bellamy left the camp. A lot has happened in that time. This chapter will have both Bellamy and Clarke’s POV because the events will happen at the same time. I didn’t want to split it into multiple chapters.

_Bellamy: Day 7…_

Bellamy woke from his sleep when he heard footsteps coming into the cave. He had moved further into the cave, away from anyone seeing him from outside. The footsteps were coming closer and Bellamy pulled out his handgun waiting for the intruder to show up.

“Bellamy?” Lincoln’s voice came from the entrance of the cave and Bellamy relaxed.

“Lincoln.” He said as he made himself visible to Lincoln, who was standing inside the cave looking for him.

“Come on. We must go.” Lincoln said in a hurry. Bellamy became alert from his sleep at the tone of Lincoln’s voice.

“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Bellamy asked as he started picking up his weapons and gear. He dressed himself and strapped the guns and knives in place. He knew he needed them at the tone of Lincoln’s voice.

“Your people are in trouble.” Lincoln told him and Bellamy froze for a second.

“Is it the attack?” He asked Lincoln as he left the cave in a hurry.

“No. Your people are walking into a trap. We must get to them, before they reach the bridge.” Lincoln told him as they both rushed through the woods. It was still dark outside as the moon was descending and sun hasn’t risen up yet. Bellamy tripped and Lincoln reached out to steady him as they went.

“What bridge? Tell me what’s happening.” Bellamy demanded. He was out of the loop of the current events and needed to know what he was walking into.

“Anya had used one of your people to arrange for a meet. She convinced him that she wanted to negotiate for peace. But she plans to take out your leader to weaken your camp, before she attacks.” Lincoln told him.

“Clarke wouldn’t fall for that. She’s smart. She would know it’s a trap.” Bellamy said. He had trust in Clarke to realize an offer like that would definitely be a trap. When he met her at first, he did think she was naïve and foolish. But after having spent all that time with her, he had come to realize his first impression of her was way wrong. She was brave and compassionate and smart. She was wiser than him and he knew he tends to act before thinking, while she thinks it through before acting.

“The boy Finn is convinced that it’s a real deal. The grounders in the camp were laughing at his naivety for believing it’s real.” Lincoln told him.

Bellamy huffed at that. _Of course, it had been Finn. His pacifist approach is going to lead everyone to their deaths._ Bellamy had noticed what was happening around the camp. He wasn’t ignorant for the drama that was happening. Initially he thought that both Clarke and Finn deserved each other for their gullible personalities. But the more he came to know about Clarke, the more he was surprised that she chose Finn as her partner. He noticed their flirting when they landed. He even pointed it out to Wells initially to rile him up. But as time went on, he realized that Clarke was much more than what Finn was like. She had depths in her that Finn couldn’t understand or reach. And when he found out about Raven, he couldn’t help but sympathize for Clarke. He could see how heartbroken she was. But he didn’t like to show his compassionate side to her, so he remained indifferent. Finn is still Clarke’s weak point and if he had managed to convince her, then Clarke could very well be walking into the trap.

Bellamy realized that Lincoln had been talking while he was lost in his thoughts. He shook himself and focused back to what Lincoln was saying.

“They are meeting at dawn. Their meet point is at the bridge, which is closer here than your camp.” Lincoln said. Bellamy realized that Lincoln had been explaining why he came to get him.

“Will we get there in time?” Bellamy asked Lincoln.

“If we hurry. I can’t be seen or else, Anya will turn her army towards our village.” Lincoln said apologetically at his predicament. Bellamy can understand it, now that he had got to know them. He nodded accepting it.

“I hope she’s coming with some backup.” Bellamy muttered.

“The deal was that there should be no weapons. But I warned Octavia to be careful.” Lincoln informed him.

Bellamy froze in his tracks again. “O’s coming?” He asked Lincoln, who realized Bellamy wasn’t moving and turned back. Lincoln nodded at his question.

“Damn it.” Bellamy yelled frustrated and started moving faster.

Bellamy hoped they will reach there in time. Otherwise, he will lose not one but two people he cared about before he could do something.

\---- 100 ----

_Clarke: Day 7…_

Clarke woke up rested and on time to prepare for the meet. She wore her jacket, as it was cold outside and stuffed a knife inside just in case. She knew she can’t carry any guns, but hoped that Miller will bring enough backup. She really hoped that the meet will lead to peace with the grounders, but she is wary that it may turn bad and she needed to be prepared if it does.

When she came out of her tent, she found Finn waiting for her. He was bouncing on his heels, unable to contain the excitement.

“Are you ready?” He asked her. Clarke nodded and said “I’ll meet you at the gate. Need to do something before we go.” Finn frowned, but didn’t question anything as he left towards the gate.

When Clarke saw that his back was turned as he walked away, she moved quickly to Miller’s tent. She thought she will catch him there, but she was surprised when it was empty. She looked around and heard a loud whisper calling her name.

She looked towards the whisper and saw people standing at the front of the dropship. She walked there as she couldn’t see who it was in the dark. When she got closer, she gasped.

Miller was standing there as she expected. But she was surprised to see Raven and Jasper there next to him. Octavia was there as well with a blade in her hand.

“What are you guys doing here?” Clarke asked Raven and Jasper. Jasper gave her a goofy grin and Raven smiled at her.

“What do you think? We’re your backup.” Raven said as if it was obvious.

“You guys can’t be there. It may be a trap.” Clarke warned. She didn’t want to risk her friends.

“We know. That’s why we need to be there. You walk into a trap; we are there to pull you out.” Jasper told her. Clarke couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the love she was feeling from her friends.

“Ok. Enough with the sob fest. Let’s get moving.” Octavia said breaking the tension. She grinned at Clarke and they both started to move.

“Follow us in a distance and keep yourself hidden. Only come if this turns sour.” Clarke told Miller who nodded. She walked towards the gate with Octavia on tow.

Finn frowned when he saw Octavia coming with Clarke.

“What’s she doing here?” He asked Clarke. It was supposed to be just him and Clarke on this mission of peace.

“She’s my backup. I need her to be there with me. She knows grounders better than both of us.” Clarke said in a tone brook no argument.

“They said no weapons.” Finn told Clarke, looking pointedly at the blade Octavia was carrying.

“Relax. I’ll keep it closer to the meeting point, in case I need it. But I won’t bring it to the meet.” Octavia said casually as she swirled the blade by its handle.

“Let’s get moving.” Clarke said and walked out with Octavia. Finn had no choice but to follow her.

They all walked in silence most of the time. Clarke was struggling in the darkness of the woods, but Octavia seems to be having no problems. Finn was behind both of them. Octavia kept pointing out different fascinating things in the woods to Clarke as a way to ease her tension and Clarke could tell that it was working.

Octavia and Clarke talked casually here and there about random stuff with Finn following behind. Finn’s frustration was getting to him, because he had hoped that this journey and peace talk would show Clarke his love for her and make her feel it too. It’s the main reason he had been pushing for the talks. But Octavia joining them like a third wheel ruined his chances. Clarke’s ease with Octavia and the way she tenses up near him was making him frustrated.

Thankfully they reached their destination without any arguments. Once the bridge was visible, Octavia looked around and found a tree stump near the bridge to stab her blade into. It was reachable within distance from the bridge, but not visible from the bridge. Clarke nodded in approval and they stayed there.

They didn’t have to wait long. Within ten minutes of their arrival, Clarke saw people in the opposite side of the bridge. The dawn has risen and there was enough light for them to see one another. Clarke gasped at what she saw.

“Oh, my God. Horses!” She whispered. Seeing horses in real life captured her attention. She had seen pictures of it in the Ark and read about them. But they were more beautiful in real and she was mesmerized.

“Clarke.” Octavia called out snapping Clarke out and bring her attention to those in the horses.

“I thought you said no weapons.” Octavia hissed at Finn, who looked confused at the sight.

“I was told there wouldn't be.” He replied back.

Clarke could see that the grounders in the horses were armed to their teeth. They wore their face masks and looked like they were coming in for battle. And they had already broken the deal of no weapons. It was already going bad.

“It's too late now.” She said to Octavia and Finn as she stared at the grounders.

They all try to move to the middle of the bridge, when a grounder from the opposite side yelled “She comes alone.”

Clarke turned and saw Octavia shaking her head negatively and Clarke could feel the dread of the situation. Finn’s hopeful expression was faltering then, but it was too late to do anything then.

She walked alone to the middle of the bridge and saw the lead horse rider dismount and walk towards her.

“Are you their leader?” The woman standing in front of her asked. Clarke could feel the intimidation, but she refused to show it in her face.

“Yes. My name is Clarke.” She answered confidently.

“I'm Anya.” The grounder leader replied.

“I think we got off to a rough start, but we want to find a way to live together in peace.” Clarke said appeasing.

“I understand. You started a war that you don't know how to end.” Anya stated as fact. Clarke shook her head, disagreeing.

“What? No. We didn't start anything. You attacked us for no reason.” Clarke argued.

“You're invaders. Your ship landed in our territory. You try to reach your allies in the mountain. You burn our village with your missiles. These are all acts of war.” Anya pointed out.

“We didn't know anyone was here. We thought the ground was uninhabited.” Clarke told her. Anya didn’t look convinced.

“We were told there are supplies in the mountain. That’s why we tried to go there. And the flares we fired were not missiles. They were to signal our families in the sky.” Clarke tried to explain.

“You were looking for reinforcements. They sent it, but it crashed. We have been watching you all for a while now.” Anya said.

“Our people are looking to survive. They need to land and they needed to know if they can survive down here. That’s all we are trying to do. To survive.” Clarke said. She hoped that her pleading voice would convince the grounder leader.

“You use us for your survival. We have seen your ways. The mountain men grab us and turns us into monsters. And now there will be more of you coming from the sky.” Anya replied back angrily.

“We are not with the mountain men. We are from the sky, because that was where we have been for many years now. We are looking to come down and be in peace with you. But your attacks have made them concerned. If you attack us, they won’t come looking to negotiate. They will come as hostiles and our technology- they can wipe you out.” Clarke said. She didn’t want to underplay the strength and look weak.

“They wouldn't be the first to try.” Anya said looking threatening.

“We have farmers, doctors, engineers coming as well as armed guards. We could help one another if we are at peace. I hope we can come to an agreement here.” Clarke requested.

“Before we do, tell me how you managed to defeat the sickness quickly.” Anya demanded.

“The virus? We didn’t. We lost fifteen people to the sickness that you sent to our camp.” Clarke said with accusation in her tone.

“The rest of you recovered faster than any we have seen before. It usually takes weeks before recovering.” Anya accused back. Clarke could tell that the grounder was accusing her of holding something back.

“I don’t know. Maybe it is because we have been exposed to solar radiation living in the sky. Our immune system is different from those living on the ground. We may have stronger immune system to fight off the virus.” Clarke explained medically. If they were in the Ark, she could run some tests to find out, but on the ground, she had to guess.

Anya didn’t look convinced.

“My scouts say that you are a healer.” She replied. Clarke was surprised that they were able to find that out. They must have been watching closer than she thought.

“Yes. I am.” She didn’t want to deny it. Even though she was not a full doctor, she was what they have as a doctor in the ground.

“Then you must be able to heal the sickness.” Anya said and Clarke was not sure where it was leading towards.

“Yes. And I will be glad to help your people as well if we are at peace. But not if we are at war.” Clarke hoped that her being a doctor could play towards making peace with the grounders.

“Are there any other like you?” Anya asked quizzically. Clarke was confused at the questioning and wasn’t sure how to reply.

“There are others in the sky but down here, I’m the only one.” She replied back. She realized too late what she had revealed.

She saw the glint in Anya’s eyes when she heard the response she was expecting to. Clarke saw her reach into her wristband and pull out a small knife. Before she could react, she heard her name being called out far away.

“Clarke!” She heard someone yell. Then everything happened at once and the place turned into chaos.

She saw Anya trying to swing the knife toward her, but before she could bring it down, she was shot in the shoulder and her hand in quick succession. Anya dropped to the ground, clutching her hand painfully. Clarke heard whizzing sounds as she started running backwards towards Octavia and Finn, who were yelling out to her as they ran back. She could see arrows bouncing off the ground in the bridge as she ran. She saw Octavia being struck by an arrow in her leg and falling to the ground. She ran right to her and pull her up and supported her from the injured leg side to move away from the bridge. All three got to a higher ground before turning and looking at the situation.

There was gunfire everywhere. She could see Miller, Raven and Jasper firing at the trees across the bridge where the arrows were coming from. She was glad that she had brought backup for the meet. She looked around and saw gunfire coming from the left side of the bridge as well. Opposite side of where Miller and the backup team was situated. She knew the voice calling for her came from that direction. She could see the muzzle flash of a single rifle from the woods. She tried to see who it was, but the tree canopy was blocking her view.

“Bell” Octavia said to Clarke after noticing her trying to look. Clarke looked back at Octavia whom she was holding onto, surprise evident in her face.

“He warned you.” Octavia said and she was drifting off from the pain from her leg. Clarke tried carrying her on her own, but it was difficult. Finn assisted from the other side as they moved slowly.

Lincoln came running through the trees to pause in front of them. He took the scene before he spoke.

“You need to move. They will be chasing you. Don’t stop till you get behind your walls.” He told them. Clark and Finn tried to move but with Octavia, their progress was very slow. Lincoln could tell if they moved in that pace, all three will get caught.

“Let me.” He said and lifted Octavia in his arms like she weighed nothing. With the burden of moving with Octavia gone, Clarke and Finn were able to move fast towards the camp. Even with Octavia, Lincoln was moving in lightning speed through the woods and Clarke had trouble following at his pace. But the rush of adrenaline along with the need to survive, pushed her to follow him closely with Finn slightly behind her. Clarke wondered where her friends were at, but she knew they can take care of themselves as they are armed, unlike her.

They reached the camp quicker than they thought. Lincoln stopped before they got any closer.

“I can’t be seen at your camp.” He said sadly. “Scouts may be watching and I need to stay away for the sake of my village.” He explained to Clarke.

Clarke nodded in understanding. She didn’t know the whole picture, but she knew Lincoln was taking a big risk helping them.

“Thank you.” She said genuinely. She could now see what Octavia was talking about.

“Take care of her.” He said and unloaded Octavia to Clarke and Finn’s hands. His tone told Clarke that the grounder is in love with Octavia. And it touched her heart, the lengths he was going for the one he loved.

“We will.” She promised him and half carried Octavia with Finn supporting on the other side. Now that they were away from immediate danger, they were able to move at a normal pace towards the gate. They reached there without any further trouble and more people came to help carry Octavia to the med bay.

\---- 100 ----

_Bellamy: Day 7…_

When Bellamy reached the bridge, he knew it was already too late. He could see the grounders standing on one side of the bridge and he arrived just in time to see Clarke and Octavia walking there along with Finn. Lincoln held him back from running to them and signalled him to be quiet. Bellamy did as he was told and looked at the scene playing along.

From their cover, they had a good view of the side of the bridge where the grounders were located at. Lincoln tapped him in the shoulder and pointed towards the trees. Bellamy used the rifle scope to look at where Lincoln was pointing. Initially he couldn’t see anything and thought Lincoln was mistaken, but then he saw slight movement. The grounders had disguised themselves as they blended onto the trees with their weapons drawn. He saw some with spears and others with bow and arrows. It was definitely a trap that Clarke and Octavia had walked right into.

It was a powder keg ready to explode at any moment. Bellamy was itching to fire and pull his people out of danger, but Lincoln was telling him to remain low. If he fired, he was putting his people at risk. So, Bellamy waited for the grounders to make the first move.

He didn’t have to wait long. He could see Clarke standing in the middle of the bridge arguing with the grounder princess. Bellamy couldn’t help but feel proud and something more at seeing her there. It had been a week since he last saw her and he realized he missed her. Octavia was in the other side of the bridge away from his view, so he focused on the other person he cared about. He kept a close eye on what was happening between Anya and Clarke while Lincoln kept an eye on the grounders in the trees and across the bridge.

Bellamy saw from his rifle scope when Anya reached into her wristband and the sunlight glare reflecting from the knife she pulled out. He knew what he had to do. He yelled “Clarke!” to warn her on impulse as he sprung to action. He aimed for the arm that was swinging the knife and he was satisfied when the burst of shots struck Anya in the shoulder and her hand, stopping her swing in mid-air. He started to fire at the tree line where he saw the grounders hiding, when arrows started to rain down on the bridge.

He heard gunfire coming from the right side of the bridge and realized that Clarke was not gullible to Finn’s nativity as he had thought. She had brought backup to cover her, in case of trouble. He couldn’t be prouder of her at that moment. It’s what he would have done if he was in that situation. He kept firing, changing clips as the first one ran out.

“Lincoln” he called out and saw Lincoln come and stand next to him. “Go help them escape.” Lincoln looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it and took off. Bellamy kept moving, so he won’t be a fixed target as he kept firing. Once he came out of the trees into the open, he was able to see the others across.

He saw Miller whom he expected, but he also saw Raven and Jasper of all people standing there, firing. Miller was moving like he was, probably from the training, but Raven and Jasper were standing targets in the open. He knew they were at risk.

“Miller” he shouted and saw them turn to see him. They were surprised and if Jasper’s grin said anything, happy to see him.

“Run while I cover you.” He yelled out and saw Miller nod in response. He saw Miller turn back and say something to Raven and Jasper who took off into the woods. Miller was the last to run and he turned back to Bellamy to look at him. They both understood one another well enough to know that Miller was conveying his thanks for the rescue. He then saw Miller disappear into the woods.

Bellamy stood there shooting to keep the attention of the grounders. He had seen a few of them fall from the trees and he knew he had inflicted some damage to the ambush party. And he knew well enough from strategies that if he doesn’t make his escape, he would be surrounded by them. So, he waited a minute or two to give Miller and others a lead before he ran in his own direction through the woods.

Once he started to run, he didn’t stop. He didn’t even know if he was running in the right direction. He kept running away from the bridge as far away as he could. But he couldn’t get far enough. He heard arrows coming at him and saw some strike the trees around him as he zig-zagged through them. Then he heard galloping sounds. He didn’t have to turn around to know that he was being chased by horse riding grounders. He tried to run through thick bushes so they won’t catch him in their horses. He thought he had escaped when the sounds of horses behind him faded further away. He came around a bend and got hit face first by a club, knocking him unconscious.

\---- 100 ----

_Clarke: Day 7…_

Clarke had put Octavia onto the bed and pulled the arrow from her leg carefully and stopped the bleeding with a cloth. She applied the paste generously and used a clean cloth to bandage it around her leg. Luckily it had hit the calf of the leg and didn’t do too much damage. A few days off her feet should heal it up and leave only a small scar. Clarke was glad, because it could have been way worse. Octavia was still sleeping from the blood loss and pain. Clarke left her to rest and walked away from med bay. She saw Finn standing outside the dropship impatiently. As soon as she came out, he approached her.

“What the hell happened back there?” He questioned her, angry. Clarke turned to stare at him in disbelief.

“Excuse me?” She said in a tone that was warning. A warning that Finn chose to ignore.

“Yeah. I told you no guns! That was the deal.” He pointed out.

Before Clarke could reply, she saw activity at the gate and turned her attention there. She saw Miller, Raven and Jasper coming in, breathless but unharmed. She rushed towards them.

“Oh my god. Are you guys alright? Anyone injured?” She asked as she looked them over. She couldn’t see any signs of bleeding or injuries other than shortness of breath.

“We’re fine.” Miller spoke when he was able to catch his breath.

“Yeah. Thanks to Bellamy.” Jasper voiced out.

“What?” Finn yelled at Jasper’s declaration.

“Didn’t you see? He saved us.” Raven said, incredulity leaking into her tone. _Didn’t Finn see Bellamy there?_

“Oh yeah I saw it alright. He fired the first shot and ruined it all.” Finn said accusingly.

All four of them looked at him like he had grown another head. None of them could understand what he was trying to say.

“Finn. She was about to kill Clarke.” Raven said in a calm tone, hoping it got through.

“You don’t know that. We don’t know what she was trying to do.” He argued back. He turned to Clarke. “You brought guns when I told you not to.” He accused her once again.

“You’re lucky she had brought us along. All of you would be dead by now if she didn’t.” Miller stated the fact.

“Well, if we weren't at war already, we sure as hell are now.” He replied back to Miller, still raving. He turned towards Clarke.

“You didn't have to trust the Grounders. You just had to trust me.” Finn told her in an accusing tone as if she had betrayed him.

Clarke stared at him directly. “That’s the thing Finn. I don’t.” It was a fact. She lost trust in him after he betrayed her trust.

She turned to Miller and others, ignoring Finn’s rambling.

“Where’s Bellamy?” She asked them. She thought he would be coming back with them. She looked behind them towards the gate as if he was hiding there.

Miller hesitated and shared a look with Raven before speaking.

“He was covering our escape as we ran. We didn’t hear any grounders following us. They must have gone after him.” He said, ashamed. He didn’t want to leave Bellamy behind. He was one of his close friends. But he knew Bellamy wanted them to run and he couldn’t refuse, because more than his life was at stake.

“Oh.” Clarke said and everyone could see how shook up she was hearing it. Raven pulled her into a hug that she weakly returned.

“What now?” Jasper asked.

“Now we wait for the war.” Clarke said determined. After experiencing what she did in the bridge, she knew that they needed to fight to their death if they had any chance of surviving.


	11. Chapter 11

_Clarke: Day 7…_

Clarke didn’t go to sleep even when she was exhausted. She sat by the makeshift bed where Octavia was lying down, waiting for the girl to wake up. Octavia had passed out from the pain and the blood loss and Clarke has been trying to get her body to heal, and for her to wake up.

“Ugh.” The sound snapped her from her thoughts and look at the girl. Octavia was waking up and groaning from pain shooting through her.

“Easy. You’re still recovering.” Clarke said in a soft voice, but holding Octavia down so she won’t move around.

Octavia had trouble focusing. Her mind was still foggy and the pain wasn’t making it easy for her. She kept trying to focus and then she saw Clarke’s face staring down at her.

“Where am I?” She asked in a hoarse voice. Clarke looked up and then back at her.

“You’re in the med bay of the dropship.” She answered. Octavia started to remember how she got there.

“Bellamy!” She exclaimed and looked around, searching for him. Clarke looked sadly at her as Octavia kept searching for him around the dropship.

“Where is he?” She asked Clarke, panicking.

“He’s not here Octavia.” Clarke told her with regret. At Octavia’s narrowed gaze, Clarke looked away as she continued.

“He covered our escape and he didn’t come back to the camp.” Octavia’s stare was searching for something unsaid and Clarke didn’t want to voice it herself. Saying it out loud will make it true.

“Where’s Bellamy, Clarke?” Octavia asked once again. Her tone sounded even, but it had an underlying threat of explosion. Clarke looked up at her.

“We don’t know.” Clarke answered honestly. Because she didn’t know what happened to Bellamy. He was not at the camp. She couldn’t tell if he escaped and went back to the grounder village, or if he ran away to a safe place in the woods. If he is captured, or at worse, he was killed.

“I must find him.” Octavia said and started to get up from the bed. Clarke stopped her from moving by holding her to the bad forcefully. Octavia struggled against it, but she couldn’t escape. Clarke was strong when she had to be.

“Let me go.” Octavia commanded, still trying to struggle against Clarke’s grip. “He’s my brother.” The last part came out pleadingly for Clarke to understand. And she did. She understood more than anyone, how the Blake siblings were. No matter how much they fight one another, they both will die for one another. But she couldn’t let Octavia go in her condition without any plan.

“You can’t run into the woods looking for him when there’s an army waiting to attack us.” Clarke replied back, hoping Octavia understood. Octavia’s struggle was weakening, but she hasn’t stopped yet. “Anya said she had scouts watching us. They must be furious about us escaping and they will kill you if you step out of the camp.” She argued rationally.

“I need to find him. I need him.” Octavia started tearing up and she looked more her age than the strong person she acts like most of the time. She looked like a broken child crying for her parent. And in a way, she was. Clarke relaxed her grip from holding Octavia down to rub her arms in soothing motion trying to share some comfort. Clarke can understand her feelings. To be honest, she was feeling the same need to find Bellamy because she needed him too. She didn’t feel like she could go through the battle without him. But right now, she needed to be the strong voice for Octavia to prevent the death of the Blake she knew was alive still.

“I know. I understand.” She whispered, wrapping her hands around Octavia to calm her down and hold her as she sobbed.

“Lincoln’s out there. He will find Bellamy. We will find him soon. I promise.” She assured Octavia. She hoped what she was saying is true.

They stayed like that until it was morning. Clarke stayed by her side until Octavia calm down and laid back once again.

_Clarke: Day 8…_

In morning, Clarke had to inform the camp on what happened. They all knew she had left that morning and saw her come back with an injured Octavia. She had to keep them informed and calm, so they won’t start panicking.

Luckily, Miller and his people were able to control any dissent on what happened at the bridge. Nobody started to act out after Clarke’s announcement. They had got used to preparing for the attack and realizing it was coming in a few days strengthen their resolve. But they were not prepared. Clarke needed a solution to make it difficult for Anya’s clan to attack the camp.

She went to Raven’s tent and peeked in. Found her still working on the bullet pile.

“Hey.” Clarke said and entered the tent.

“Hey.” Raven responded and unlike last time, she turned around and smiled. It seemed like they were building a friendship now.

“Will those be enough?” Clarke asked looking at the pile of untested bullets.

“Don’t think so. But we need all that we can get.” Raven said nodding towards the ones she had already packed as useful bullets. Jasper’s chemical test made it possible to find useful bullets faster, but she had barrels of them to go through.

“Is there anything more we can do? I’m desperate.” Clarke asked helplessly.

Raven looked at her, with a thoughtful gaze. “How desperate?” She asked and Clarke could tell wheels in her brain started spinning about something.

“The fate of the camp relies on us finding a way to defend ourselves, if that answers your question.” Clarke pointed out. Raven chuckled and looked at her seriously.

“I have a suggestion, but it’s a big risk.” She said and Clarke’s interest peaked.

“What is it?” She asked, wanting to know.

“Remember the dropship that crashed?” Clarke nodded. “I need to take a team and go there.” She told Clarke. Clarke’s immediate response was to say no, but her curiosity won over.

“Why?” She asked wondering. Last time they were there, they didn’t find any weapons or evidence of anything surviving the crash.

“I want to get as much Hydrazine as I can.” Raven said and Clarke understood what Raven was planning. She warned about the fuel being combustible. She even demonstrated the explosion that day. If they could somehow contain it, it could work as a good explosive bomb.

“How will you carry it?” Clarke asked and Raven grinned, realizing Clarke quickly figured out her plan and wanting to know more.

“I have been creating these vacuum sealed containers to store food that could go bad. They are stable and air tight. Once we get the Hydrazine in them, it won’t ignite.” Raven said and showed a decent size container. Clarke took it from her hand and saw that it was a good sealed container.

“What can we do when we get it here? They will stay sealed and we can’t use it effectively.” Clarke pointed out. But Raven had ideas for that too.

“I was thinking about it yesterday. What if we put some of it in a container and take it to the bridge? That’s their way to the camp, right?” Clarke nodded and let Raven continue. “We place the container in the bridge with a timer of sort and once the timer runs out, it will explode and bring down the bridge.” Raven suggested. Clarke could see it as a good plan. It may work and it will make Anya difficult to cross and reach them. She would have to circle around or go down the valley where Bellamy was at. Either way, it will buy them time.

“Do we have a timer though?” Clarke asked. As far as she knew, they didn’t have any timers.

Raven looked at the watch Clarke was wearing. Clarke’s eyes went wide at the implication. Raven wanted to use her father’s watch to set the time.

“No.” Clarke said holding onto her watch to her heart as if Raven was asking her beating heart.

Raven looked at her, trying to say something. But the look in Clarke’s face made her re-think. She opened her mouth and closed it a few times before she spoke.

“You’re right.” Clarke visibly relaxed when Raven said it. “Maybe a trigger will work better.” Raven said and her mind was thinking again. “Of course.” She looked back at Clarke once again having come up with a better idea. “What if we booby trap the bridge?” Clarke looked confused and Raven continued explaining. “We set the container at the bridge, but we run a wired trigger on the ground. They won’t know it until they cross it and when they do, kaboom!!” Raven said demonstrating the explosion with her hands in excitement. “It will take out the bridge and also some of them along the way. Weaken their army just like what they did for us.”

Clarke can see that the new plan was better. It will lead to more loss of life which she didn’t like but it was necessary. Like once Bellamy said, _“Who we are and who we need to be to survive are very different things”_ sounded very true at this stage.

“Ok. But how do you plan to get around the scouts?” Clarke asked. She was still worried about the scouts watching them. She didn’t want her people dying in their hands.

“That’s up to you. You need to find a way to get us around.” Raven said and got back to making the bullets. She wanted to get as much as possible done before she left.

Clarke left the tent positively excited at the prospect of having a way to defend themselves and lost in her thoughts on how to find a way around the scouts. She went to Miller for advice, since he has been in charge of security.

Miller had been busy all morning after her announcement. He looked tired but he wasn’t resting. He is busy supervising the wall reinforcements.

“Hey Miller” Clarke said and his attention turned towards her.

“Hey” he said to her before turning back to the people he was supervising to give them some instructions. Then he stepped away and Clarke started walking with him away from the wall.

“What can I do?” He asked her, knowing she was there for his help.

“I need you to tell me a way to find out if we are still being watched by Anya’s scouts.” She asked. Miller already knows about what Anya and Clarke spoke in the bridge. The inner circle was wary of being spied upon.

“I already have people watching the trees for any activities. There’re more eyes looking at the woods than before. We have not seen any activity yet.” Miller reported.

“We can’t assume it’s safe to leave just because of that, can we?” She asked him. She thought it may be worth the risk, but she would leave it to the person in charge of security to decide.

“Safe for what?” Miller asked her, confused.

Clarke got closer so she doesn’t speak out to everyone. “Raven has come up with an idea to detract the attack. At least for a short while.” Clarke saw Miller’s eyes go wide, but he remained quiet listening. “But to do that, she needs to go to the dropship crash site.”

“I think it’s worth the risk.” Miller told her. “We need a way to fight the attack and if there’s one, we should take it.” Having Miller agree with what she thought convinced her too.

“Alright. Let’s get everyone in the loop.”

\---- 100 ----

It was about mid-day when she was able to get the inner circle in one place. She had to wait for people to finish the work they were doing and she had to check on Octavia herself. They all decided to meet in the med bay near Octavia so she can also be part of the decision-making process.

“Ok. So, here’s the deal.” Clarke said to those standing in front of her and Octavia sitting next to her in her bed.

“Raven has come up with an idea to make bombs out of the rocket fuel from the crashed dropship.” People gasped when they heard it. “She is going to go to the crash site and get as much fuel as she could.”

“Clarke, it’s not safe. Not right now.” Finn argued first. Raven looked at him annoyed, because he was talking to Clarke about a decision she made.

“Raven made that decision Finn.” Clarke pointed out. “Miller has been on the lookout for anyone in the woods and haven’t seen any. And the direction they will go will be away from Anya and her clan are at. It should take them to a safe zone. They may even get to avoid the attack if it comes before they return.” She smiled when she said the last part and heard Jasper and Monty chuckling and Raven shaking her head with a smile.

“But she is going to need some help. I don’t want to order anyone to go. Whoever is volunteering can go with her.” She told the group.

“I’ll go.” Finn said. Raven looked like she had something to say, but she decided against saying anything.

“We’ll go too.” Jasper volunteering and Monty nodded. Clarke looked at them gratefully. “Thanks guys.”

“I’ll also go. They need someone for backup in case they run into trouble.” Miller told her. Clarke nodded at him. “Take as much bullets as you need.” She told him.

“I would like to volunteer as well.” A voice from behind said. Clarke turned around and everyone looked at the person speaking. They saw Murphy standing there wiping his hands in a dirty cloth. They didn’t realize he was there. He was still healing and confined to the med bay. But he has been assisting those who were still recovering from the infection and others around the med bay.

“No.” Miller said as if the decision was final and Clarke looked at Murphy, confused.

“Why would you want to risk your own life?” She asked him trying to understand his motivation.

“What else am I going to do? At least this way, I can be useful.” He told her. Clarke was unconvinced.

“We have enough people to go to the crash site. You can help here in the med bay as you have been doing so far.” Clarke knew that Murphy had not done anything suspicious since he came back. And with the attack looming over them, they needed all abled bodies to protect them, which is why he is still around. But she didn’t want to risk the lives of her friends in the chance that he betrays them.

Murphy didn’t like it but he didn’t argue. He went back to the corner where he was confined to in the med bay, keeping quiet.

“So that’s settled. Finn, Monty, Jasper and Miller come with me to the crash and we carry the containers and fill them up as much as we can to make as many bombs as we need.” Raven told the group.

“We should leave now if we want to reach there before sun sets.” Miller pointed out. They all realized it would take half a day to reach there.

“Let’s get moving.” With that, everyone left the dropship to prepare for their departure.

Clarke exhaled and sat down in the bed next to Octavia. Octavia patted Clarke’s nervously twitching leg to reassure her.

“They will be ok.” She told Clarke convincingly. Clarke nodded in return.

“I should go too.” Clarke’s head whipped back at Octavia as she stared wide-eyed.

“What? No. You are still recovering. There’s enough people going with them.” Clarke rambled fast. Octavia shook her head.

“Not with them. I should go meet Lincoln. Find out if he found my brother.” She said and realization dawned on Clarke.

“You can’t walk yet. You need a day of bed rest to heal to be able to walk let alone run.” Clarke told her.

“I can’t lie around while my brother is missing Clarke. I need to do something. I’m going mad like this.” Octavia argued. “Besides, you have them leaving from the camp. How is it any different if I leave?” Clarke couldn’t argue with that. Octavia will be taking the same risk as Raven when she steps out of the camp.

“Whether you let me or not, I will leave.” Octavia said determined. Clarke could see that she will not be able to convince her otherwise.

“Alright.” Clarke agreed. Octavia relaxed when she heard that. “But I’m coming with you.” Clarke told her. Octavia started to argue, but Clarke interrupted. “You’re not healed enough to run or fight yet. You will need someone to look after you. I’m coming. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.” Clarke said to the younger Blake sibling. Octavia stared down trying to decide. Clarke knew that the girl didn’t like to show vulnerability or accept that she needed help. But she was not giving an option this time.

Finally, Octavia said “ok. We should go now.” Clarke shook her head.

“Not right now. Let’s wait till sun sets. Darkness will give us some cover and you know your way through the woods in the dark.” Octavia could see the point and nodded. She lied back down in her bed, trying to conserve energy and strength for the trip in the evening.

Clarke left her to get back to the camp businesses. With most of the leadership gone from the camp, she needed to make sure that the delinquents will not run out of control. She needed Miller to have his people maintain order around the camp.

\---- 100 ----

The evening sun set came all too soon. Clarke had seen her friends leave after the meet. She watched from the guard post to see if they were attacked. They were safe and she didn’t see anyone following them. But she was not an expert in these things. She hoped that it was true and they will return back safely the next day.

“Are you ready?” She heard Octavia ask from behind her. She turned around and saw that the younger Blake was in much better condition than she thought. She was still leaning to her left to reduce putting weight on her injured right leg. But she was standing on both feet as if it didn’t bother her. Clarke knew it was a façade and she has seen Bellamy act that way as well. Another trait both Blakes shared.

She nodded at Octavia. She had been waiting by the gate, prepared for the trip. She was about to go get Octavia when she appeared herself.

They both walked out of the camp together. Unlike last time, they were moving in a slower pace. Clarke knew it but she didn’t voice it. At times, Octavia struggled to find footing and Clarke held her hand to help as they walked through. Octavia was grateful for the assistance but she never voiced it. Instead, she gave a squeeze when she was letting go of the hand or smiled to indicate her appreciation.

They took their time and reached Lincoln’s cave. This was the first time Clarke went there. It was relatively close, but hidden away from anyone seeing it unless they were really close.

There was a fire going on inside the cave when they walked in. Octavia rushed inside and Clarke followed. She found Octavia hugging Lincoln by his neck. Lincoln was doing the same, holding her tight close by her waist.

When they separated, Lincoln dropped to his knee to inspect Octavia’s wound in her leg.

“It’s fine. Clarke patched me up.” Octavia said dismissively. She didn’t want Lincoln to fuss over her. Lincoln seemed satisfied at what he saw and he looked at Clarke gratefully, nodding at her. She understood that he was thanking her and nodded back in response.

“Did you find my brother? Is he ok?” Octavia asked Lincoln desperately. Clarke was nervous to hear his answer.

“I didn’t see him.” Lincoln said and Octavia visibly looked upset. “He wasn’t there when I looked. I checked around the bridge and followed the tracks. There was a struggle, but no sign of your brother.” Octavia stepped back, getting more and more upset at the news. Clarke stepped forward to grab her by her arms.

“Octavia. Hey. Hey. Look.” Trying to get the girl’s attention. When she saw she had it, she pointed out the fact. “This is good news. It means Bellamy’s not dead yet. They wouldn’t have taken his body if they had killed him.” Clarke pointed out.

“It’s true.” Lincoln said and they both looked at him. “He was probably taken to their camp for retribution. Blood must have blood!” He stated. They both looked at him, trying to understand.

“He killed many people yesterday. They will want revenge. Death by a thousand cuts. They will tie him up and cut him until he receives a thousand cuts. If he is still living, they will run a sword through his heart to kill him. It’s our way.” Lincoln explained. Clarke and Octavia looked horrified at the thought.

“We must save him.” Octavia said and Clarke couldn’t disagree. But they didn’t know how.

“You can’t.” Lincoln told her. He reached down to the ground to pick up his gear. “But I can.” He said as he started to put on his gear. Octavia started to argue, but Lincoln silenced her. “You are not in a condition for a fight. You will be a burden than an asset.” He pointed out.

Then he looked back at Clarke. “You should prepare for the attack. They will come for you once they have all the information from Bellamy. They are probably hesitant because of your recovery from the sickness and concerned you may have something hidden to attack them with.” Lincoln said and Clarke realized now why they haven’t been attacked yet.

“But it won’t last long. I predict they will be attacking in two days.” He warned her.

“We have a plan. We will be ready.” Clarke said convincingly. Lincoln’s brows rose at that in surprise. But he didn’t ask about it. He nodded and hugged Octavia once again.

“You should go back to your camp and prepare. I will find your brother.” Lincoln assured Octavia and left. Clarke and Octavia followed him out of the cave and moved in the opposite direction towards the camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Murphy isn’t the way he was in Season 1. I couldn’t find it in me to make him a bad guy. And since the story is taking a different route towards the finale, I decided to switch him up as well.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning. Mild torture in this episode

_Bellamy: Day 7…_

When Bellamy started gaining conscious, he realized a few things. First was that he had a massive headache blinding him. Second, the sun had set and there was a fire pit burning near him. Third, he was a prisoner with his hands and feet bound. He opened his eyes and saw the cage he was in.

The memories of what happened came back to him in a rush. The bridge where the ambush was taking place and Bellamy covering their escape. His own escape thwarted by something heavy hitting him in the face. _That would explain the killer headache_ , He thought to himself. He reached up to his head using his bound hands and touched to feel his head wound. The bleeding had stopped and dried, indicating it was a flesh wound. But the swelling is pretty big and will take days to recede.

He tried to look around where he was at. It was an open clearing in the middle of the woods and the fire pit was burning in the centre. He could see some horses tied around the tree in the far end of the clearing. There were at least twenty grounders around the fire pit, eating and laughing. Bellamy was outnumbered and surrounded. He was disarmed and only wore a pant. His chest was bare and all his clothing had been stripped off. He could feel the chillness of the night run through him, even if he felt the heat from the fire pit from afar.

He was screwed. He had hoped for one last chance to talk to his sister. Tell her how proud he was of her and how enriched his life has been, having her as his sister. Last time they spoke, they had a disagreement that seemed silly now. He wished he had made up with her so she won’t be blaming herself like he knew she would.

A part deep buried in him, wanted to see and talk to Clarke as well one last time. She had been his equal in the camp, leading together. They both made mistakes and they both had guilt for their actions. But they knew they had each other’s’ backs. But now, Bellamy is not going to be there to have her back when Anya attacks. He will be dead.

But he didn’t regret the reason he was going to die. He wished he had escaped. Instead, he got caught saving the lives of those he cared about. So, he didn’t feel any regret for his actions that led to his capture.

He saw a grounder come towards his cage. He pulled himself away from him, but determined not to show the fear he was feeling. He will die with his head held high and not give the grounders any satisfaction.

The grounder rattled the cage and saw Bellamy flinch. He yelled out something in Trigedasleng towards others and Bellamy saw them all get up and come towards him. He stayed frozen watching their moves. One grounder moved towards the cage’s door and unlocked it using some kind of metal ring. Then they reached in and grabbed him by his leg.

Bellamy tried kicking as hard as he could. He was not going to go down without a fight. He felt a few of his kicks connect with the hands reaching in. They pulled out and a different set of hands reached in. Bellamy was flat on the ground and his vision was limited. He couldn’t see how many were trying but he felt more hands and finally they got a good grip of his legs and pulled him out. Since they were bounded, he couldn’t kick in all angles. When he was out of the cage, he felt someone punch him hard in his face. His head started ringing and the headache he already had worsened with the pain. His head banged onto the ground and his vision blurred.

He heard someone yell something in Trigedasleng and the beating stopped. Bellamy felt himself being pulled up and felt his arms being raised and tied to something. He felt his back being pulled towards what seemed to be a pole and he was tied to it by his hands and feet.

“You caused many deaths of my people.” A woman accused him in English. He shook his head to clear the blurred vision and focused on the direction of the voice. His vision cleared slightly and he was looking at the face of the woman he saw in the bridge.

“I was protecting mine.” He told her and started coughing. The pain from the knockdown injury before and the beating now was taking its toll.

“I hoped killing your leader will make your people weaken. But they are more resilient than I thought.” She sounded annoyed at that.

“We will fight to our deaths if we have to.” Bellamy spit out. He didn’t feel the need to be polite to this woman trying to kill them.

“We’ll see.” Anya said calculating. Bellamy saw that she was coming up with some plan and he didn’t like it.

“What do you plan to do with me?” Bellamy demanded to know.

“My clan will get retribution for the kin they lost. Then you will be the bait for your leader to surrender.” Anya said it as a fact.

Bellamy chuckled. “Clarke will never do that. Not for me.” He shook his head. _This lady doesn’t know the first thing about Clarke,_ he thought to himself. We may have had an understanding, but she won’t risk the safety of the camp for him. He was sure of that.

“We’ll see.” She said again. Then she stepped back and Bellamy saw a grounder come towards him with a sharp blade.

Bellamy saw him say something in Trigedasleng and before he could anticipate, he pushed the blade into the skin of his chest and cut him. It was not a deep cut. A shallow cut that caused him to bleed, but not enough to hurt anything internally. It was meant to make him suffer. And suffer he did. He took the initial cuts without crying out, but one by one, every grounder in the camp came and cut him. After five or six cuts, Bellamy couldn’t help but cry out. By the last cut, his throat was hoarse again and he felt himself pass out in pain.

\---- 100 ----

_Bellamy: Day 8…_

Bellamy woke up when someone dumped a bucket of cold water over him. He shook himself and his body cried out in pain. He touched where it hurt and felt the dried blood in his chest and abs. The bleeding had stopped, but the wounds still festered.

“Get up. We need to go.” A grounder ordered him and dumped the bucket next to the cage. Bellamy looked around and saw that the grounders were preparing to leave and it was dawn already. He saw the grounder who woke him open his cage and this time, Bellamy went out willingly. He wanted to conserve his strength in case he gets a chance to escape. He was already weak from his injuries and his fruitless struggle will waste whatever energy he had left.

“Come” the grounder pulled him forcefully towards a horse that was already mounted by a grounder. There was a rope hanging from the horse and Bellamy’s hands were tied to it. The camp started moving and Bellamy was running behind the horse followed by other grounders.

He couldn’t tell how long he had travelled that way. He felt all his energy slipping away as he kept running. His legs were going jelly and he was losing his balance. Every time he started to slack, the rope was pulled up by the grounder and he had to catch up. He knew he will be dragged along if he lost his footing and he didn’t want to injure his legs in case he got the chance to escape. But the idea of escape went further and further away every minute.

They took breaks during their journey. Every time they did, Anya came up to him and asked questions. Questions about Clarke and the camp and their strength and weaknesses. Bellamy refused to tell her anything and he received whip lashing every time he refused. They didn’t do too much damage because they needed him on his feet and from what he could tell, Anya still wanted to use him to get Clarke to surrender.

The sun had started to set and they started making camp for the night. Bellamy was once again placed inside the cage. This time however, the grounders seemed rattled. They didn’t seem to be laughing and they didn’t light a fire pit. It seemed like something had made them afraid and they were panicking. By the time it was midnight, the area was very dark. It was a cloudy night and the moon was in the last phases before it was a new moon. The grounders chose not to light any fire that night and Bellamy stayed up watching as he couldn’t sleep. His body was feeling the pain of running and the lashes adding to the cuts he received the night before. He wasn’t sure how much more he would be able to take.

He saw before anyone else. A fire burning up a hill clearly visible through the darkness as it burned. The grounder standing guard of the camp saw it and started shouting in Trigedasleng, waking everyone else up. They all got up and stared at the fire. He saw Anya coming to the front looking at it before turning and ordering the rest of the camp. Everyone sprung to action and started taking their stuff to clear out the camp.

It seemed like they were in a hurry to leave that place. Bellamy watched from his cage as they took their horses and rode out. The grounders on feet started running through the woods. Within minutes, the place was quiet again with Bellamy stuck in the cage.

He tried kicking the door to open it. It didn’t budge. He spun around to the direction of the fire that was still burning. He wondered if that was what they called forest fire on Earth. He didn’t know what else could frighten a warrior clan to pack up and run. He kept watching the fire and the woods for any sign of movement, because he couldn’t do anything else.

All of a sudden, the cage door rattled behind him and he turned around. He saw a grounder covered in mud making him darker than the darkness already around them. Bellamy could barely see the person there. The cage door was broken into and then Bellamy heard his name.

“Bellamy. Come quickly.” The voice called in a whisper, but in a hurry.

Bellamy could recognize that voice. It was the friendly voice of Lincoln. He rolled quickly to the door as fast as he could, given that his feet and hands were bound. Lincoln pulled out a knife and cut the ropes of the leg binding. He was able to crawl out of the door and Lincoln cut his hand bindings too.

“Let’s go.” Lincoln said and Bellamy followed quickly. Adrenaline of escaping and hope of surviving gave him the strength to run. He followed Lincoln through the woods, not knowing where they were running towards. The darkness gave them enough cover and Bellamy barely had a visual of Lincoln moving in front of him. They both ran until they reached the entrance of the tunnels.

“Where are we?” Bellamy asked Lincoln when they paused at the entrance of the tunnels.

“Reaper tunnels. They won’t follow us here.” Lincoln said but stood hesitant to enter.

“Was that you with the fire?” Bellamy asked him. He saw Lincoln nodding. The mud he had used to cover himself had fallen off and Bellamy could see his face now.

“Signal fire. To warn about reaper hunting.” He said and it all made sense to Bellamy now. They were afraid of reapers catching them and that was why they ran. Probably why the grounders won’t follow them, but that would also mean Lincoln was risking both their lives taking them in.

Lincoln started moving inside and Bellamy had no choice but to follow.

“How do you know where we are going?” Bellamy asked as they walked through the mines.

“I have mapped this place before. There’s a tunnel that will lead you to your camp. We should be safe if we remain quiet and stay low.” Lincoln said and Bellamy nodded in understanding.

They walked through the tunnels that were a maze for Bellamy. He trusted Lincoln to know the way around and they moved. After a while, there was a lot of shouting and yelling coming from the tunnels. Lincoln signalled him to be quiet and they walked slowly hugging close to the walls. Lincoln peaked around the corner and Bellamy couldn’t help but see it himself as well.

What he saw horrified him. He saw the feral grounders like he had seen before. But these ones seemed to be eating meat raw. And what he saw made him sick. He didn’t want to think of the source of their meat. They moved silently away, from the hurdle of reapers still busy with their food.

He saw a track running down the tunnel and realized that those were mining tracks as he has read in the historical books back in the Ark. They seemed to be following the track and reached a cart that was abandoned. But it was not empty. Bellamy held his breath to prevent from throwing up the bile forming in his mouth. It was filled with human bodies. He moved closer to Lincoln as they walked around the cart. As he did, he heard someone moaning in the cart. He accidentally brushed against a hand that was falling out of the cart and he saw it flinch at the contact. The bodies were alive in that cart. That made him even sicker.

He didn’t say anything as he followed Lincoln through the tunnels. He couldn’t think about those in the cart, when his people were in danger and Lincoln warned him to stay quiet. Once the sounds of the reapers faded away and they were further from the centre of the tunnels, Bellamy found his voice to speak.

“Are they alive?” Bellamy asked Lincoln, once they were clear.

“They will not be. They are near death and will be dead soon. You can’t help them.” Lincoln told him and fixed him with a stare. Bellamy nodded in understanding. It wasn’t the time to try and save everyone.

“What are the mountain men doing with them?” Bellamy asked. _What could possibly make a human do that to another human?_ He wondered. From the historical books he had read, he knew the atrocities committed by men and he knew humankind wasn’t above that. But usually, they had a reason or a cause, no matter how flawed it was. He wanted to know what would be the reason for the mountain men to be doing that.

“Now is not the time.” Lincoln told him and the conversation ended with that.

They moved through the mines taking different turns until they reached an entry where a stream was running nearby.

“This is where I leave you. I need to go back to my village and check with Indra. Anya may have found out about my involvement and look for retribution.” Lincoln explained. Bellamy nodded in understanding and offered his hand which Lincoln took and they gripped each other’s forearm as a sign of respect. Lincoln nodded and moved in one direction while Bellamy moved in the direction Lincoln pointed for him to go.

He was exhausted. The adrenaline that kept him moving had run out and the lack of food, water and sleep compounded with the injuries were making him dizzy. But he was determined to reach the camp before he gave up. He didn’t want to lie down on the ground, no matter how much his body was begging him to and get caught by Anya’s clan again. So, he dragged himself through the woods in a straight-line following Lincoln’s direction. The woods started to clear up and Bellamy could see light in the distance from the camp. He squinted and saw the wall standing strong and gave a breath of relief. The camp was still safe and Anya hasn’t attacked yet. He wasn’t too late. With more energy he was able to muster, he started moving faster and faster. He reached the clearing near the gate very soon.

He heard someone yell from the guard post. He couldn’t identify who and in his weakened state, he didn’t care. He was looking for the two people he cared about. And in the peripheral vision, he saw one of them coming into view. Bellamy had just enough time to turn towards Octavia as she came right at him like a force of nature. She hurled herself at him, putting her arms around with a force that made him stumble back, and he was able to quickly adjust in his weakened state. But Bellamy didn’t care. He had his loving sister in his arms once again. At that moment, nothing mattered except them. He hugged her as tightly as she did and heard her sob into his shoulders, crying. She was whispering ‘sorry’ to him and he didn’t ask why or what it was for. He made a soothing sound to calm her as he caressed her head, like he did when they were little and Octavia started to cry. It always worked on her then and as he predicted, her cries stopped and he was able to step back and take a look at her.

When she stepped away from him, he saw her wince and grabbed her right leg. He immediately looked for the source of her pain and saw the bandage in her leg. He realized she must have gotten injured at the bridge. He felt guilty for not protecting her from that. Logically he knew that her being alive was the main achievement, but the big brother in him didn’t want even a minor injury to happen to her. Not on his watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay and the short chapter. It was more of a return chapter. Next one should be longer.
> 
> Reviews and comments are welcome. Would be nice to find out how many people are interested and reading the story and hear your feedback.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is. The Reunion.
> 
> Bellarke are back together. No more POV. At least for now. :)

_Day 8…_

It was past midnight. Octavia did not listen when Clarke told her to stay in bed. She decided that she will be at the guard post, watching. Clarke went through her duties around the camp, before she went to get some sleep. There was nothing to be done before early morning when they expected Raven and the others to arrive with the fuel.

She was woken up from her slumber when she heard the shouting. Immediately she sprinted up and left her tent, looking at the gate. She wondered if the guards spotted Anya’s attackers coming. She saw from a distance that Octavia was jumping from the guard post and she wanted to yell at her, warning not to do that with an injured leg. But Octavia did not seem to be in the mood for listening as she sprinted from where she landed outside the gate. Clarke wondered if Lincoln had shown up, as she moved quickly toward the gate.

What she saw made her freeze up. Octavia was hugging fiercely at a tall figure in front of her. And the figure was hugging her back. From her distance, Clarke couldn’t see the person’s face buried in Octavia’s hair. But she couldn’t mistake those curls anywhere. The person she has been missing the most since he left had returned. Clarke couldn’t tell if she willed it or if her body started moving on its own. But the next thing she realized was that she was running. And she couldn’t stop. She didn’t want to stop.

She caught him off-guard. He had stepped back from his sister just a moment before she launched herself at him. Bellamy tried to keep balance but failed because of the force Clarke crashed onto him. In the next second, they both fell onto the ground. She had a tight grip around his neck and felt them fall with her on top of him. She didn’t think how it would have been construed by the delinquents in the camp watching them. Her only thought was that he was back and she was holding him. She felt his arms go around her waist and hug her tight as well, and she squeezed him tighter as if she could bring him closer than they were. She heard him exhale and something in the way he did made her realize that it was not normal. That snapped her back to reality.

She let go of him and felt him let her go. She got up quickly from the ground and lend a hand for him to get up.

“Now there’s something I thought I’d never see.” Octavia snickered from behind and Clarke felt herself flush with embarrassment. She looked at the girl admonishingly and then saw Octavia’s eyes go wide as she stared at Bellamy.

“Oh my god Bell!” Octavia exclaimed and Clarke turned to look at what Octavia was seeing.

In the initial euphoria at seeing Bellamy alive, both Octavia and Clarke didn’t take into account the way he looked. But now, Octavia noticed it first and then Clarke did. The cuts from the blade and the dried blood made him look like he was half dead. Clarke immediately started looking at the wounds for any infections with trembling hands, wrecked with emotions at seeing them. Bellamy reached out to hold her hands, and she looked up into his brown eyes staring at her deeply.

“I’m ok.” He whispered and Clarke wanted to believe it. But her medical knowledge told her it wasn’t true.

“Like hell you are.” Octavia is the one who told what she was thinking. “Hey, you.” Clarke addressed the guard standing at the gateway, staring at all of them. The kid shook out from the shock and looked at her, attentive.

“Help me get him to the med bay.” Clarke ordered and she was back to being the camp leader. Her emotions boxed up and hidden from anyone’s prying eyes. She saw the guard step up and take Bellamy’s left side and she stood by his right side. She was shorter than him. He had to lean towards her, for her to support him. But she took as much weight as she could to help him walk and all three went to med bay with Octavia following closely behind.

When they reached the med bay, Clarke placed him in the makeshift bed Octavia was staying last night. She didn’t think the younger Blake would mind.

“Murphy. Get me some fresh water and clean clothes.” Clarke called out and Murphy stood up and walked out to follow her orders.

“Murphy?” Bellamy asked confused. He saw the retreating figure and looked back at Clarke for answers.

“He was captured and tortured by the grounders.” She explained as she removed the dirt from Bellamy, using the cloth she had next to her.

“He was the reason Charlotte died.” Bellamy pointed out.

“What happened to Charlotte was as much our fault as his.” She told Bellamy and she could see the guilt in his face before it was gone.

Clarke couldn’t tell when she became an expert in reading Bellamy’s expressions. When they landed, all she saw was the arrogant bravado and the indifference he showed to anyone but himself and his sister. But as time went by, she started to see more sides of him. The side that was caring and compassionate, the side that was strong and confident, the side that was funny and relaxed and many more. During their day trip, she saw the raw expression of pain and guilt he was carrying for his actions and she realized she could see the real Bellamy then. And somehow, that made sense for her to understand his other expressions he hides under the façade of Bellamy the leader. And it seemed it was still the case, since she could still read him.

“Besides, they tortured him. He suffered a lot.” Bellamy winced when he heard that, since he experienced the same in their hands just last night and today.

“We need him if we are going to fight off the attacks by the grounders.” She told him and Bellamy couldn’t help but agree. He could see that she had flourished in his absence as the camp leader and had made some difficult decisions if letting Murphy stay was an example.

“I trust your judgement.” He told her. He was still wary of Murphy after he tried to hang him and then banished him. He didn’t believe that Murphy would not hold any resentment. He would. But Clarke seems to trust him, so he was not going to make a fuss. But that doesn’t mean he will not keep an eye on him.

And he knew he made the right decision when she smiled brightly at his statement. He realized Clarke wanted his seal of approval even if she didn’t need it, and he was more than happy to give it to her.

Murphy came back with the water and clean clothes. Clarke used the water to clean up Bellamy’s wounds. He hissed and twitched when he felt the cold water on his wounds. The bloods were washed out but the wounds were still raw and sensitive to the liquid. Clarke winced when she saw the shallow cuts and carefully cleaned around them whispering “sorry” every time she had to clean over the wounds. Bellamy bit his lip as he waited for her to finish cleaning it up. Once she did, he let out a breath and relaxed back down.

But he forgot about the injuries from his whiplashes. And the bed is not the most comfort place and the fall from before didn’t help either. Some of the grain from the dirt dig into his wounds making him whimper. Clarke looked up, alert for the source of the pain. When she saw him curl up to the side toward her, she immediately walked around the bed to see his back.

“Shit.” She said as she started to clean the dirt quickly using another clean wet cloth.

“It must have hurt when I hugged you and we fell huh?” She asked apologetically. She heard Bellamy chuckle and it warmed her with both embarrassment and relief.

“It was definitely a surprise. Can’t say I mind it though.” He said teasingly. She flushed and glad that his back was towards her and he couldn’t see her face.

“Sorry about that.” She apologized.

“Nothing to be sorry about. I would have done the same.” He replied back. She wasn’t convinced but she let it go for now.

Once she was satisfied that she had cleaned all the dirt from his back, she used some of the aloe vera gel she had to put it on the wounds. It should help cool and soothe the wounds and since they were superficial and didn’t penetrate too much of his skin. But there’s a possibility of infection that she is trying to avoid. Once she was done, she used some of the clean clothes used as bandages to put it over his back and then turned him around carefully.

When he was settled in his back, she focused on the wounds in his chests and abs. She applied the yarrow paste on his chest wounds as she went down. When she applied it to the wounds in his abs, she saw him flinch. She looked up for any sign of pain and Bellamy looked embarrassed. She tried again and saw it flinch involuntarily. She realized he was feeling ticklish from her administration. She smiled at him and saw his ears become red when he realized she knew.

“It’s ok. Just relax.” She said calmly and applied the paste as a doctor would. Professionally. She tied up the wounds and realized she had used up all the yarrow paste they had left. She needed to get Monty to find more yarrow bushes to make more paste. She added it to the checklist in her mind.

She tried to remove the pants and Bellamy’s hands shot up quickly to hold her arms. She looked at him confused.

“It’s ok. You don’t need to do that.” Bellamy told her.

“Let me see. You may have injuries in your legs.” Clarke said and attempted to remove his pants once again. But Bellamy had a death grip stilling her from moving.

“Really Clarke. It’s fine. I’m going to be fine.” He said hoping he sounded convincingly.

They both stared at one another unable to tear their eyes away.

“That’s hot.” A voice popped in snapping them out of their bubble. Clarke turned and looked where it came from and saw Murphy standing there watching and Octavia next to him with a grin. They both forgot that they had an audience during the whole treatment process. Octavia had stayed quiet watching Clarke do her thing and Murphy had been standing there after bringing the stuff she had asked for.

“How come I didn’t get that kind of treatment when I was injured?” Murphy asked in mock serious tone. Octavia swiped at Murphy’s arm admonishing him.

“Shut up Murphy.” Octavia told him, but she couldn’t stop the giggle coming out of her mouth.

“I’m just saying. I was injured too.” Murphy pointed out.

“You deserved it.” Bellamy pointed out. He and Murphy stared at one another. Murphy shrugged. “Maybe.” was all he said and their conversation was over.

Clarke stood up washing her hands in the water still left and looked over Bellamy once more.

“I’ll come in the morning and check on you.” She said and walked away without looking back. She was embarrassed at the teasing and flustered from the emotions she was feeling that made little sense to her. She was desperate for some alone time and she isolated herself in her tent.

_Day 9…_

Morning came sooner than Clarke thought it would. She felt like she had gone to bed only a few minutes ago, after tossing and turning around unable to get any sleep only to wake up to the sounds around the camp. She pushed herself from the bed roll to exit her tent. She needed to check on Bellamy and wait for Raven.

The camp was more active than she had seen before. There was a different vibe around and she couldn’t tell what caused it.

“Good morning” she called out to the kid Miller left in charge when he left. He turned around and Clarke recognized him as the one she protected in the brawl few days ago. She remembered his name. Tony. He seemed to be in good condition now.

“Morning Clarke.” He greeted her. She smiled in response.

“Do you feel a different energy around the camp?” She asked him looking around. Tony also looked around where she was looking and then smiled at her.

“Yeah. The news broke out that Bellamy was back. People have hope they will survive now.” He told her.

“Oh.” Clarke said, comprehending. Tony nodded at her and took his leave.

Clarke wasn’t competitive. She wanted to do what was best for the camp and as a leader, that was what she has been doing. But it made her slightly uncomfortable to be honest that the delinquents had more faith in survival with Bellamy around than with her. But she couldn’t fault them. Bellamy had a natural charisma of a leader. He can inspire them and make them feel alive. He has that quality of a leader that will make people follow him to their deaths. Clarke is too analytical and calculating to have that kind of charisma. She accepted that reality. But it hurt that the delinquents didn’t believe she could help them survive.

She walked back to the dropship straight to the med bay. She saw Bellamy awake as she kneeled down near his bed.

“Hey.” He greeted her.

“Hey.” She replied back nonchalantly. She could see Bellamy frowning at her, but she didn’t try to focus on it as she checked through the wounds.

“What’s wrong?” He asked her, confused.

“Nothing. Everything is fine.” She replied back unconvincing.

“Clarke. Look at me.” He asked in a soft tone that she couldn’t help but listen to. His eyes shone with genuine concern as he once again asked “what’s wrong?”

Clarke couldn’t avoid answering this time.

“The camp is glad to have you back. They have hope of surviving the attack” She said in a normal voice. She couldn’t help adding “now.” to that sentence in a lower voice. But it wasn’t low enough. Bellamy had heard it.

Understanding went through him at Clarke’s mood change.

“Clarke.” He said in a calm tone. She didn’t look at him, to see pity or sympathy in his eyes. But when he grabbed her hand, her eyes automatically went to his face. She didn’t see pity or sympathy. She saw understanding.

“They only feel that way because I had prior experience with the guns and trained to be a guard.” He said hoping it would make sense to her.

“I was able to do that, only because I haven’t done much for the camp otherwise.” He pointed out his failure as a leader.

“That’s not true. You were doing all the day to day activities and keeping everyone in line. The camp was in disarray after you left.” She argued with him. “I asked Finn to look into the tasks, but he couldn’t do it.” She said sheepishly. She was embarrassed to tell him that.

Bellamy laughed at that. “Finn’s a pacifist. The kids out there need a strong leader to follow. Not a push over. I’m sure if you had told them, they would have followed.” Bellamy said as if there’s no doubt. And Clarke couldn’t argue. They did listen to her after she enforced the rules set forth before by Bellamy.

“Still, you did plenty around the camp.” She argued back.

“Maybe. But the important decisions. The big decisions were all you. I was giving them freedom when you were trying to make sure they have food to survive. I was looking to protect myself from the Ark when you were trying to get reinforcements to protect the camp. Every single injury they had, they needed you. Half of them would be dead if it wasn’t for you. It has all been you Clarke.” He listed it out for her.

Clarke could see that he was being genuine and not self-deprecating when he was saying that. This was not the cocky Bellamy who took charge when they landed. This was the leader willing to share the responsibility of leadership with her.

“You were making decisions for the good of your sister.” She replied back. Bellamy nodded.

“Yes, I was. I was looking out for me and my sister. You were the one looking out for the camp. You have been leading them from the start even if you didn’t want to. I was just a hindrance with knowledge on how to fight.” He stated as a fact and Clarke couldn’t disagree.

“We make a good team.” Clarke told him and smiled when she saw Bellamy chuckle.

“Good thing you offered to co-lead with me huh?” He asked teasing and she agreed. It was one of the best decisions she made on the ground.

“Thanks Bellamy.” She thanked him. Her self-doubt had vanished after their talk. She didn’t realize how much she needed that.

“Anytime princess.” Bellamy was smirking and she got busy looking through his wounds with a smile.

“We need to get more paste to apply again. We are out of what we had in stock. We can manage with some of the gel and powder, but we really need to get more.” She said, concerned.

“What paste?” Bellamy asked confused. Clarke realized he didn’t know what they found.

“Monty found this yarrow bushes near the camp. They are good for wounds and stops the bleeding when applied as a paste or powder. We have been using what we had. I just used the last of it on your wounds and you need to get more.” She told him.

“What about the seaweed grounders used?” Bellamy suggested. Clarke shook her head.

“We don’t have any left. It’s not safe to wander into the woods for now.” She told him.

“The grounder village had some healers who used herbs like this. They can have some suggestions for more and where to find them. We should learn from them to replenish our supplies.” He told her. He hoped they would survive long enough for that to happen. Clarke looked at him surprised.

“Lincoln said you were at his village. I didn’t believe it.” She said still not believing it was possible.

“He took me there when I got injured.” At her concerned gaze, he said “I’m ok.” And saw her relax. “They treated me and let me go. Their leader Indra trusts me now.” He informed her.

“Why can’t she stop the attack then?” Clarke asked confused.

“She has gone to their commander to see if she can stop the attack from happening. But Anya’s not the same as Indra. They both belong to the same clan but different factions. Indra said, Anya doesn’t listen to her.” Bellamy explained.

“That’s too bad.” Clarke was disappointed. It would have been nice to make peace with the grounders and learn from them.

“I still hope Indra will come through. We need to survive until then.” Bellamy told her.

“We have a plan to delay the attack.” Clarke told him, excited. Bellamy looked at her curiously.

“Raven and a few others have gone to the crash site of the dropship to get the fuel to make bombs.” She told him. “We are going to blow up the bridge so Anya can’t come across easily. Hopefully that will delay their attack.” She hoped it worked long enough for Indra to stop the attack from happening.

“Good plan.” Bellamy nodded in agreement.

“Raven should be coming back anytime now. I was going to go wait for her after I checked on you.” She said and stood back.

“Let me know when they arrive. I hope they got enough to make the bomb.” He requested and she nodded before she left. Bellamy lied back and closed his eyes hoping that everything will work out without any bloodshed.

\---- 100 ----

It was mid-day when Clarke saw Raven’s team coming back into the camp. They looked tired but unharmed. She hurried over and saw them hand over the containers they carried between them. When they left, one person carried a container on their own, but they needed two people carrying as they returned. Clarke realized it meant they were successful in getting the fuel.

“Are you guys ok? Did you get it?” Clarke asked them as soon as they were closer. She saw Raven smiling.

“Yeah. Found a tank that was not damaged. And a few tanks that still contained some fuel. We should have enough.” She answered, turning to look at the containers on the floor.

“Did you see any grounders?” Clarke asked concerned. Raven shook her head negatively.

“Coast was clear. We took precautions and took cover as much as we could on our way there and back.” She informed Clarke.

“You look better.” Finn piped from the side when he reached Clarke and Raven. Clarke saw Raven frown at that and she wished Finn would stop doing that.

“I am.” She said curtly. Before Finn could ask any more questions, Octavia joined them and hugged Jasper and Monty, who looked tired but happy to see their friend.

“Anything happened while we were gone? Camp seems to be buzzing.” Miller asked as he looked around. At his statement, everyone else turned and noticed the truth in that. They turned to look at Clarke.

“Actually…” Clarke started but got interrupted. “Hey guys.” She heard Bellamy call out from behind her and she grimaced. Not because he showed up, but because he should be in bed as she told him to.

“Bellamy?” Raven said in surprise. Jasper gave a goofy grin seeing him and Monty and Miller were smiling. Finn frowned when he saw Bellamy and Clarke could see that he was the only one doing so in the camp.

Jasper left the group and moved quickly towards Bellamy. Bellamy was walking from the dropship and Clarke could see him still moving awkwardly now that his injuries have started to heal.

“Bellamy.” Jasper said as he paused in front of Bellamy. Bellamy looked at him wondering what was happening. “Look, I just...” Jasper was struggling to speak which is a first for him. Bellamy smiled, encouraging him to speak.

But instead, Jasper jumped forward and bear hugged Bellamy, who was surprised but then awkwardly hugged him back. He looked over Jasper’s shoulder and saw Octavia and Clarke shouting a warning to Jasper about Bellamy’s injuries. But Bellamy knew Jasper didn’t hear them.

Jasper let go and stepped back. “Thank you.” He finally said what he was trying to say. Bellamy wasn’t sure what he was thanking him for, but just smiled back in return.

“Long way from whatever the hell you want huh?” Jasper teased and Bellamy chuckled remembering when he said that.

“You shouldn’t be on your feet.” Clarke admonished him when she got to him. She was smiling when she said that, so Bellamy knew she was not angry but saying it out of habit.

“I wanted to be there when they came back.” Bellamy explained as if it was a just reason for him to be out of his bed. Clarke shook her head. _Unbelievable,_ she thought to herself.

“You look like you went ten rounds in the ring man.” Miller commented taking Bellamy’s appearance.

“You should see the other guys.” Bellamy answered back and then winced. One of his wounds had hurt when he moved.

“Are you ok?” Monty asked concerned. Bellamy gave a disarming smile to ease their concern.

“I’m fine. Just wounded a bit. Nothing a good doctor can’t fix.” He said and looked at Clarke. She blushed at his comment.

“Well, this doctor says that you need to be back in bed. So, move.” She said sternly. She saw Bellamy roll his eyes but turned around towards the dropship. She followed him to make sure he reached his bed and stayed there.

\---- 100 ----

Clarke stepped out of the dropship after checking Bellamy’s wounds and letting him stay there under the supervision of Octavia. She knew Octavia will make sure he stays in place and she is on Bellamy duty since she needs to heal from her leg injury anyway.

When she came out, she noticed that the containers have been secured in the camp away from direct sunlight. They needed to move it into the dropship but with the weight of the containers, it’s difficult to carry it onto the passenger section of the dropship.

She can see Miller having already taken charge of the security around the camp again. Tony was assisting him with the work. She looked for Raven and the others, but she couldn’t see them out in the open. She saw Finn near the meat curing area and she walked in the opposite direction before he came to her. She didn’t want to address any issues he was having with Bellamy coming back. She saw his expression when he saw Bellamy, and she knew that Finn will raise some issue and she didn’t have the mood to deal with it right now. It has been a good day so far and she wanted to keep it good until the day is over. It has been a while since they had a good day.

Her direction took her towards the communication tent and after peaking in and finding it empty, she went towards Raven’s tent. She found Raven, Jasper and Monty huddled together discussing something seriously. She walked and stayed aside listening to whatever they were arguing about.

“Hey Clarke” Jasper welcomed her when he saw her standing there. Others turned and realized she has been standing there.

Noticing her curious look, Jasper elaborated. “We are discussing the right way to trigger the bomb.”

“Yeah. We can’t decide between a trip switch or a pull wire will be more effective.” Monty explained. Clarke nodded and stayed quiet.

“I think the wire will be the best choice. The grounders will be in horses and foot. They will more likely trigger a wire than a switch.” Raven argued.

“But they may notice a wire. A trip switch will be in the bomb, so it will be hidden and go off when someone step on it.” Jasper argued.

“As if they’re not going to see a shiny metal object in their path on the bridge.” Raven scoffed at the idea.

Clarke could see the value in Raven’s argument. They needed to make sure it is hidden to be effective.

“A pull wire will only work on the grounders at the front. It will not go off in the middle. A trip switch may not get triggered by the grounders or horses in the front. It may do more damage.” Jasper argued.

“We’re not looking to inflict casualties Jasper.” Clarke interjected. They turned to look at her. “The bomb is a deterrent. Prevent them from crossing the bridge and make them hesitate and rethink attacking us.”

“Clarke’s right.” Monty said. “We don’t want to kill them unless we have to. If we can show them, we are strong and not as weak as they thought we are, then they may not attack.” He argued. Clarke nodded in agreement.

“So, all in favour of the pull wire?” Raven lifted her hand and saw Clarke and Monty do the same. Jasper huffed and raised his hand as well.

“That’s decided then. Jasper, you get the Hydrazine in from the container.” Noticing Jasper’s gleaming eyes, Raven added “small quantity is enough.” and saw Jasper’s face fall when she was onto what he was planning. She chuckled and continued. “Monty and I will prepare the pull wire trigger into the box and then we set it up by today.” She said and everyone went to their assigned tasks.

Clarke looked out and saw there was plenty of time for the sun to set. They can do it if they hurry. They need to take the bridge down before Anya and her group crosses it.

“Let me know when you guys are ready.” She told them and saw Raven nod. She left them to their business.

\---- 100 ----

It was closer to evening when Raven came to her to inform that the bomb has been built and ready to be set.

“Are you sure you want to go at this time?” Clarke asked Raven looking at the setting sun.

“It’s best if we set it as soon as possible. We don’t want to be surprised. They may show up anytime.” Raven replied and Clarke couldn’t argue with that.

“I’ll ask Miller to come with you.” Clarke wanted to make sure Raven was protected. But it seems that Raven disagreed.

“Actually, the fewer the better. Right now, only Jasper and I are needed to set the bomb. The more people travelling in the woods, the riskier it is. We’ll go and be back in no time.” Raven argued.

Clarke wasn’t sure if that’s the right decision, but Raven seemed to be confident and this was Raven’s plan. Clarke decided to trust her choice.

“Ok. Be safe. If you see any grounders on your way, turn back. Don’t risk getting caught or worse.” Clarke warned her and Raven nodded smiling. She was glad that Clarke agreed with her.

Jasper came up behind Raven holding a tin that was closed off with a wire hanging on the side. He looked ready to go.

“You really should take someone with you to watch your backs.” Clarke argued again hoping Raven will change her mind.

“We are.” Jasper replied casually. Raven looked surprised and turned towards Jasper. “Monty is coming with us.” He said as if it was forgone conclusion.

“What?” Raven exclaimed. Clarke was confused as well. Monty would not have been her choice as backup for them. He is skilled in many things but not gunfire in the middle of an attack.

“Yeah. He has been asking to come along and I couldn’t tell no. Last time I left him behind and this time, he’s coming with us.” Jasper answered shrugging his shoulders.

Monty decided to show up at that time carrying rifles for all three of them. He passed it to Raven and Jasper before strapping one on his shoulder.

“Are you sure?” Clarke asked Jasper and Monty in general.

“Yeah Clarke. If this fails, then you need as many people fighting here protecting the camp. We should be fine. We’re good at hiding.” Monty answered. It made sense to think of it that way.

“We’ll be fine Clarke.” Raven said convincingly. She seemed to have accepted the change in plans and ready to leave.

“Good luck. Be safe.” Clarke wished them and saw them leave through the gate into the woods. She hoped they will return soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone figured out where the scene that Murphy was making fun of came from? I’ll give a hint. It involves a vampire.
> 
> This chapter was longer than others because I wanted to finish Day 9 in this chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bellarke are back together. No more POV. At least for now.

_Day 10…_

Clarke was tensed up when morning arrived. She had been waiting for Raven and others to return from the bridge all night. She expected them to show in the middle of the night as the bridge was only a few hours away and they left before the sun set. When they didn’t show up, she started worrying. Bellamy and Octavia tried to calm her down, but it didn’t help. Finn’s accusations made her feel worse as well.

_The night before…_

Clarke was walking around the camp restlessly, waiting for Raven to show up. She had told Bellamy about Raven’s trip and he agreed that it was a good plan but wished he had gone with them. She admonished him for even thinking of going with all the injuries he was still recovering from. His words didn’t help soothe the tension she had, waiting for Raven to come back. Octavia caught her in one of her walks around the camp and tried to convince her to rest before she fell down from exhaustion. She reluctantly agreed and had her dinner with Octavia and Bellamy to distract herself. But after dinner, she found herself walking again watching at the gate every few minutes.

That’s when Finn caught up to her. She didn’t see him approach her, because she was distracted at staring at the gate.

“Hey.” He called from behind and she whipped her head around to see him looking at her pensively.

“Hey.” She said, surprised and hesitant. She had been actively avoiding him all day long. But seems he caught her when she was distracted.

“I heard you sent Raven to the bridge with Jasper and Monty.” He questioned her. She looked at him and saw a tensed expression in his face, which spelled trouble.

“I didn’t send them. They chose to go.” She corrected him. It wasn’t her who made the decision.

“I think it’s a mistake.” Finn told her and Clarke’s eyes narrowed. This wasn’t what she needed then. But Finn was determined to say his piece.

“She should have gone with more people. I could have gone with her. She needed people trained to watch her back.” Finn continued and Clarke couldn’t hide the chuckle that came out in response. Finn’s eyes narrowed and she felt the need to explain her reaction.

“If she wanted you to come along, she would have asked you.” She stated and stared at him to ensure he understood. “And since when did you have the training to be a guard?” She asked sarcastically.

“I have been training with Miller.” Finn replied in defence. He knew Clarke’s points were valid, but he wasn’t done trying to tell her what he thought of her decision.

“I think she should have had more people with her.” He repeated and Clarke sighed.

“I wish I could have sent more. I even offered it to her, but they pointed out that in the event they didn’t succeed, we needed all people available here protecting the camp. They made a valid argument and I agreed with them.” She explained to him patiently.

“What about them? Isn’t Raven needed in the camp?” Finn asked and Clarke was growing frustrated.

“Look. What’s done is done. We just need to wait until she comes back with Jasper and Monty.” She told him and turned to look at the gate once again.

“You have been making rash decisions lately. You brought guns to the meet. You decided to let Bellamy in after he ruined the peace talks. You send Raven out alone where the grounders are. You are not the same Clarke I knew before.” Finn listed the decisions she made that he didn’t agree with and Clarke grew frustrated.

“You didn’t know me Finn. You only saw what you wanted. Every decision I made was for the good of the camp and I will keep making them until there’s someone else who can.” She said curtly and walked away before she showed him how it affected her.

To be honest, his accusation stung deeper than she showed. Because, at one time, she had put her trust in him. And he proved that her decision was a mistake by betraying that. And him questioning her decisions started to make her second guess herself. She wouldn’t be so rattled if Raven had returned because then, she would know that letting Raven leave with Jasper and Monty was the right decision. Right now, it looked like it could be the wrong one that resulted with her friends in danger and possibly the camp as well.

She retreated back into the dropship to seek comfort from Bellamy’s presence even if he was not awake. She didn’t want to be alone in her tent, lost in her thoughts. She sat down and leaned against the walls of the dropship looking at Bellamy’s sleeping form. She noticed Murphy sleeping in the bed roll further away in the med bay. Seeing them both there made her feel not alone. Time went by and she couldn’t tell when she fell asleep.

When she woke up in the morning, sun was rising up. She quickly checked on Bellamy’s wounds and satisfied that the gel was working fine, she left the dropship. She was back to watching the gate once again.

She didn’t have to wait long. At first, she noticed that the guards at the post became attentive and then she saw three figures walk out into the clearing outside the gate. She rushed to them and saw them arriving safe.

“What took you so long?” She demanded as soon as she reached them.

“Calm down Clarke.” Raven said patiently. “It was late by the time we finished setting it up. Took a bit longer to make sure it was hidden properly.” She looked at Jasper when saying that and he looked guilty as if it was his fault. Clarke didn’t inquire about it and waited for Raven to continue.

“Once we did, we took shelter in the woods in a cave for the night. Didn’t want to risk travelling at night in case any grounders were around.” Monty piped in before Raven said anything.

“We left in the morning and got back here safely. Everything is fine.” Raven assured her. Clarke relaxed when she heard it. It was like a wave of calm wash over her, when she realized the plan went without a hitch.

“Let’s get you guys fed and cleaned.” She told them to get showered and have their breakfast as she walked towards the dropship. Bellamy should be awake and she wanted to inform him that they were back.

She found him getting up and moving much better than before. She still wished that he would rest for another day or two to let his wounds heal but she knew it was a futile argument. He will not stay in bed when he can move around. She knew that as well as she knew herself. She smiled at the thought of knowing Bellamy Blake that well.

“Good morning.” She greeted him and saw him look up at her with a glint in his eyes.

“Morning Princess.” He said and she felt fluttering in her stomach hearing him say it, and the way his voice was deep and strong like it was before. He didn’t sound the way he usually does yesterday, when he was hiding the pain he was feeling.

“Raven and others are back.” She said unable to prevent the grin from breaking into her face. She saw Bellamy’s eyes light up at the news. He was happy to have them back as well.

“Everything went ok?” He asked to confirm. She nodded. “Took them longer than they thought and they took shelter in one of the caves near the bridge.” She told him their explanation. Bellamy nodded in understanding.

“Probably safer to do that.” He agreed. “So now we wait for Anya to attack.” He spoke and before he completed the sentence, they heard a huge explosion far away. Both Bellamy and Clarke turned around and moved quickly towards the entrance of the dropship.

They can see a cloud of smoke coming up from far away. Clarke stared at it and saw it reach the clouds in that area. Everyone in the camp was now staring at the cloud. Then all of a sudden, a cheer broke out and then the entire camp was cheering loudly as if they had won the war.

“It worked.” Bellamy said in wonder as he stood next to her.

“I am become death, destroyer of worlds.” She quoted. When Bellamy turned his eyes on her, she felt the need to explain. “It's Oppenheimer, the man who built the first…” Bellamy interrupted her. “I know who Oppenheimer is.” He told her.

“I hope we didn’t kill them all.” She said quietly. Bellamy put his hand on her shoulder to give her a comfort squeeze. She looked at him and saw sympathy in his eyes.

“ _Who we_ are and _who we_ need to be to _survive_ are two different things.” He repeated what he told her many days ago.

Clarke chuckled. “I remembered that when we were planning the bomb.” She told him. Bellamy smirked at that. “Oh, shut up.” She dismissed his cocky expression and looked back at the cloud, feeling a bit better.

The cheering was still going on around the camp with the delinquents feeling like they have survived. Clarke didn’t feel like telling them that they only won the battle and not the war. _It can wait_ , she thought to herself.

“Come on.” She invited Bellamy with her as they both went and joined their friends who were celebrating. Everyone was congratulating Raven and Jasper and Raven was proud of what she did. Clarke noticed that Finn didn’t come and join them but she didn’t care at that moment. She didn’t want another incident between them and she was glad to avoid him.

\---- 100 ----

The celebration went well into the evening as the sun set. Jasper and Monty decided to make moonshine for the rest of the day to celebrate the occasion. Everyone decided to celebrate by throwing a party around the camp once the sun set. Fire pits were lit and moonshine was being spread around the camp. People were hanging in groups getting drunk and dancing. The overall mood of the camp had changed from sombre to ecstasy.

Clarke found herself walking to the gate and saw Bellamy perched at the guard post watching out.

“Do you really think now is a good time to be having a party? I mean, we only won the battle. Anya and her clan could attack anytime.” She pointed out.

“They are probably licking their wounds now. Relax.” He told her and saw she remained unconvinced. “I got security covered. Why don't you go get a drink? You look like you could use one.” He suggested to her. She was too tensed and serious all the time. He wanted her to be care free and act like a teenager she was.

“I could use more than one.” She replied back wistfully.

“Then have more than one.” He told her. Seeing her still standing there unsure, he continued. “Clarke, we managed to delay the attack and possibly cause some damage without losing anyone in our side. When they come back, the party will be over. Have some fun while you still can. You deserve it.” He suggested. He hoped she will loosen up and have fun like he told her to.

He saw her nod at his speech. “Yeah. Okay.” She said and started to turn around. Bellamy turned to look out of the camp once again. Before he did, he heard her say “So do you by the way.” He turned back to look at her surprised.

Seeing her looking at him pensive, he smiled at her thoughtfulness. “I'll have my fun when the Grounders come and we win the war.” He assured her.

She looked like she wanted to say something more but then she decided not to. “All right.” She said and walked away.

Bellamy looked out of the camp once again.

After a short time, Bellamy turned his gaze to look around the camp. He could see Octavia hanging around with Jasper and Monty, getting drunk. His first instinct is to go and pull the cup away from her. But he decided to step back and let her have her fun. He had come to realize how overprotective he has been and he wanted her to experience life like she never got to before. He will keep an eye on her but he wanted her to have fun. And Jasper and Monty are safe company to be around. So, he stood where he was at watching her laugh care free like she used to and enjoy the moment.

He turned around and noticed that people have started hooking up after getting drunk. Some were making out in the open and some had retreated to the tents. The silhouettes inside the tent were visible from the reflection of the fire pit. He smiled and looked around. Near the table where the games were happening, he found Clarke hanging out with a couple of delinquents. She had a big smile in her face as she tried to balance a piece of metal in her nose. He liked this side of Clarke. The care free teenager who didn’t seem like the world rested on her shoulders. He wished she would always look that way. He decided that he will reduce the burden she has on her shoulders, so she will feel like she currently does more and more.

A few girls approached him with drinks and asking him to join the party. Bellamy without care would have agreed and probably led to a night of fun. But the new Bellamy had responsibility for the camp. He needed to ensure that the camp is protected from any retaliation attacks and he was on guard that day so others can have their fun. He politely declined the invitations and stood by watching others have fun.

The party went through the night until everyone was drunk and tired. Some got to their tents but most just fell asleep wherever they were at. Bellamy went around to make sure everyone was settled in safely and then stayed guard alone at the gate.

\---- 100 ----

_Day 11…_

Morning around the camp started off slowly. Everyone was hungover from the moonshine and those who overdid it, woke up with a headache. The med bay was full and Clarke was busy trying to tell people to drink water instead of looking for medication to help them recover from their headaches. She had one herself and drinking water seemed to help.

She found Bellamy at the gate when she woke up. She felt bad that he didn’t get to enjoy the party, but he assured her that it was by choice. And she reluctantly agreed that alcohol with his wounds still healing is not a good choice anyway. She told him to get rest as the shift at the gate switched and he went into his tent to sleep.

Her first order of business was to replenish her medical supplies. She went to Monty and found him still waking up from being hungover. He smiled sheepishly at her.

“Had fun last night?” She asked him smirking. He grinned in response.

“Yeah. Been a while since we partied like that.” He said looked over at Jasper who was still passed out.

“Are you steady enough to walk?” She asked him and saw him straighten up at the question. He looked at her serious, wondering what he can contribute.

“I need you to organize a trip into the woods to find more yarrow plants.” She told him.

Monty looked curious and then concerned. “Are we already out of it?” He asked surprised.

“Yeah. With the injuries Murphy and Bellamy had, we ended up using all of it.” She explained and Monty nodded in understanding.

“That’s fine. I’ll organize a supply run with a few who knows about the plants.” He informed her.

“Take some guns with you too. Miller will send someone along for protection.” Monty looked at her, alarmed. “Just a precaution. We don’t know where the grounders are at the moment. Better to be safe than sorry.” She explained to him and Monty nodded in agreement.

“Sure.” He said and went to find others to go with him on the plant gathering run.

Her next stop was to go check on Raven. She found her in her tent, still groggy from last night.

“Ugh.” Raven grimaced when Clarke opened the tent flap to let herself in. “Too bright.” Raven complained and Clarke laughed.

“Are you ok?” Clarke asked her, still trying to control her laughter.

“I was doing fine. Then Finn happened.” Raven exclaimed. Clarke’s smile vanished immediately hearing that. “What?” She asked in surprise.

Raven squeezed her eyes to try to focus on Clarke’s face at the tone. Realizing the implication, she shook her head. “No no no. Not like that.” She answered and Clarke was embarrassed. Her face must have given away her thought of Raven and Finn back together. Nothing wrong with them getting back together as they are both consenting adults. But from what Clarke have come to realize, Raven could do better.

“I don’t know what I would have said if he approached me like that last night when I was drunk and high in adrenaline.” She explained. “But instead, he came at me with accusations. He was complaining about me leaving him behind in the dangerous mission and he should have come along. It just got so frustrating that I ended up drinking myself until I passed out.” She grimaced after speaking the long dialogue. It was too early in the morning for that.

“I know the feeling. He accused me of sending you alone too.” Clarke replied back. She can understand the urge to get drunk and pass out instead of having to deal with it.

“Now I have a killer headache and I don’t want to leave the tent until the sun is gone down again.” Raven complained and tried to wrap herself in the blanket to get back to sleep.

“Wish I could let you but the fun and games were over yesterday. We have work to do today.” Clarke said and pulled Raven up by her hands.

“Ugh. I hate you.” Raven whined, but without a bite. Clarke just smiled and helped her along out of the tent towards the water tank. Fresh water and some food should help Raven recover from the hangover.

Clarke stood by her as Raven drank the water and eat morning breakfast once she had freshened up. She still grimaced at the light but her eyesight was better than before.

“So, what’s the plan for the day?” Raven asked as she bit into the dried meat they were eating for breakfast. Clarke decided that should help soak up all the alcohol still left in her.

“First, we need to talk to the Ark. We need to update them on the situation with the grounders. It has been a few days and a lot has happened.” Clarke pointed out. Raven nodded and kept eating.

“Next, we need to make as many bullets as possible. Whatever gunpowder left that we can use, we need to do it now. Anya and her clan may have retreated for now but they will surely come back with vengeance. We probably bought ourselves only a few days.” Clarke told her.

“Right. Let me get Jasper and we’ll start working on the bullets.” She replied. Clarke chuckled at that. When she saw Raven looking at her confused, Clarke looked at the still sleeping figure of Jasper in the tent he was sharing with Monty.

“Oh, for the love of…” Raven cried out and got up from the table. Clarke followed her closely as Raven walked to a half-filled bucket on their way and picked it up. She went into the tent where Jasper was sleeping and dumped it right on his face.

“Argh!!!” Jasper yelled as he woke up from his slumber. He was shaking like a wet dog, looking everywhere trying to gather his bearing. Clarke and Raven laughed at his antics as he kept trying to focus.

“You.” He said to Raven accusingly when he saw her standing there with the empty bucket.

“Yes me. Get up and get yourself cleaned up. We have work to do. Find me in the comm tent when you are ready.” Raven ordered him and left with Clarke who was still chuckling.

\---- 100 ----

The rest of the day around the camp went uneventfully. Clarke informed Jaha about the talk she had with the grounder and how they repelled their attack. She didn’t inform them about Bellamy’s return yet.

She found out from Jaha and her mother that they were working on the landing like Raven had suggested and Abby wanted a personal talk with her daughter, which Clarke refused. She may be happy about her mother still being alive, but she didn’t want to have the argument about her father’s death and Abby’s part in it.

She left the communication to Raven who was talking to Sinclair about the structural issues of her idea.

Monty and others returned with more yarrow bushes and she remained busy to make the paste and store, as well as creating powder with the rest of what was left. Murphy and Octavia helped her and they all worked together on it.

During lunch, she found out that Bellamy was back to being active in the camp, taking charge of the training. He had assigned Miller to supervise the preparation of the foxholes outside the camp. He had people providing protection from the wall to those who were working on digging the holes. They were placed in strategic positions and covering all sides of the camp.

Bellamy joined her during her stroll around the camp to check on the activities.

“Everyone is working together now.” Bellamy commented as they walked along.

“I think the fear of the grounders are keeping the peace.” Clarke said as a reason for it.

“I think it’s more because we are working together, instead of being at each other’s’ throats.” He shrugged when she looked at him.

“Why do you say that?” She asked him curiously.

“I don’t know. O mentioned something about the delinquents calling us Mom and Dad.” He informed her and Clarke couldn’t stop the laugh burst out of her.

“What?” She asked him still giggling, trying to control her laugh. She saw Bellamy smiling at her sideways.

“Yeah. Probably because of how we were bickering always or how we both took charge of the camp.” He pointed out and Clarke could see where they could have come to that assumption.

“So now that we are working together, they are comfortable and working together as well?” She asked wondering if she was on the same track as Bellamy’s thoughts. He nodded in response.

“Guess it’s a good thing you came then.” She commented smiling. He smiled back at her.

“Don’t know what will happen when the Ark arrives. But I couldn’t stand by and watch you all face the grounders alone.” He replied and she smiled at him in appreciation.

“I couldn’t imagine standing with anyone else facing the grounders either.” She said honestly.

Finn noticed from afar at the way Bellamy and Clarke stood next to one another in complete ease at each other’s’ presence. It flared the jealousy he felt inside him.


End file.
